.PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

ITS  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE 


By 
Bernard  C^onson,  A.  B.,  Pd.  D. 

Principal  Public  School  3,  Manhattan,  New  York 

Author  of  "Graded  Lessons  in  Punctuation,''  "Methods  in  Elementary 
School  Studies,"  etc.,  etc. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  COMPANY,  LTD. 

1907 

All  rigbtt  reserved 


C 


c^ 

COPYRIGHT,  1907 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Printed  October  1907 


THE    MASON-HENRY    PRESS 
SYRACUSE,     N.    Y. 


PKEFACE 

There  is  a  demand  for  a  work  that  will  give  a  rational 
insight  into  the  system  of  pupil  self-government.  This 
is  warranted  by  the  reawakened  interest  manifested  in 
this  subject ;  by  the  widely  differing  opinions  which  have 
been  expressed  concerning  its  value  in  school  govern- 
ment; and  lastly,  by  the  inherent  value  of  the  scheme 
itself. 

The  favorable  reception  which  was  accorded  to  self- 
government  upon  its  first  introduction  was  due  to  the 
fundamental  truth  underlying  it.  This  same  basic 
truth  now  calls  for  a  reconsideration  of  the  whole 
scheme,  but  not  along  the  narrow  path  of  experiment 
and  observation,  as  was  formerly  the  case,  but  upon 
the  broad  plane  of  philosophy  and  experiment  which 
past  experience  has  made  possible. 

A  movement  whose  existence  is  sanctioned  by  em- 
pirical knowledge  alone  must  not  be  judged  by  the 
number  of  failures  which  mark  its  progress,  but  by  the 
number  of  its  successes ;  for,  in  this  case,  success  points 
to  efficiency,  while  failure  points  to  the  existence  of 
untoward  circumstances.  This  will  be  found  true  in  the 
case  of  pupil  self-government.  It  has  succeeded  in 
several  authenticated  instances  and  this  success  is  proof 
positive  that  it  possesses  the  power  ascribed  to  it ;  it  has, 
however,  failed  in  a  great  many  other  instances,  and  the 

v 

247027 


vi  PREFACE 

only  reasonable  explanation  that  can  be  given  for  these 
failures  is  that  they  were  caused  by  the  absence  of  con- 
ditions favorable  to  its  success.  The  causes  of  these 
successes  and  failures,  moreover,  are  also  the  causes  of 
the  different  opinions  concerning  the  value  of  the 
scheme  as  an  agent  in  the  moral  uplifting  of  the  chil- 
dren—opinions the  truth  or  falsity  of  which  can  be 
determined  only  by  rational  insight. 

The  scheme  itself  also  calls  for  reconsideration  and 
for  deeper  investigation  into  its  nature,  conditions, 
limitations,  and  powers,  because  as  subsequent  discussion 
will  show  it  is  the  concrete  embodiment  of  a  psycho- 
logical truth  which  may  be  converted  into  a  useful  agent 
in  the  moral  training  of  children. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

CHAPTER  I.    INTRODUCTION  ^ 1 

[Genesis  of  the  Movement 

(Its    Subsequent   History 

Causes  of  its  Successes 

Causes  of  its  Failures 

The  Problem  and  its  Relation  to  Teachers 

CHAPTER  II.    ITS  THEORY   13 

Means:  Obedience 
Method:  Apperception 
Material:   Life's  Activities 

CHAPTER  III.    ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS    22 

Existence  of  a  Proper  Ideal 

Competent   Principal 

Capable  Teachers 

Gradual  Introduction  of  The  Scheme 

Power  to  Enforce  Obedience 

CHAPTER  IV.    INTRODUCTION  OP  THE  SCHEME   35 

Immediate  Preparation 

Preamble 

Charter 

CHAPTER  V.    DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SCHEME 45 

Legislative  Department 
Executive  Department 
Mayor 

Police  Department 
Assembly  Squad 
Patrol  Squad 
Truant  Squad 
Parole  Squad 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

Detective  Squad 

Health  Department 

Department  of  Savings 

Educational  Department 
Judiciary  Department 

CHAPTER  VI.    THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION  53 

Yards 

Morning  Assembly 

Court 

Truancy 

CHAPTER  VII.    ETHICS     77 

Means  of  Development 

Method 

Topics 

Home  Life 

Out-door  Life 

School  Life 

Individual  Welfare 

Obedience  to  Law 

CHAPTER  VIII.     Civics     88 

Introduction 
Topics 

Citizenship 

Common  Welfare 

Elections 

Government 

Rise  of  Representative  Government 


I 


GO 

On 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

A    Court    Scene Frontispiece 

Eecess  During  Morning  Assembly Facing  page  13 

The  Class  President  in   Charge "  "     27 

Chief  Officers  of  Self -Government  School  125 ...      ' '  "     41 

Truancy    Squad "  "     47 

Health    Squad's    Inspection "  "     55 

Officers  in  Charge  of  Halls,  Stairs,  etc "  "     63 

A  Captain  and  his  Chief  Lieutenants "  "     73 


IX 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

While  the  main  purpose  of  this  work  is  to  determine 
the  underlying  principles  of  the  movement  and  the  con- 
ditions favorable  to  its  application,  a  preparatory  re- 
mark or  two  concerning  its  formative  and  empirical 
stages,  will  serve  to  give  fuller  and  clearer  meaning  to 
its  rational  stage,  the  one  upon  which  it  is  about  to 
enter. 

Ten  years  ago,  and  for  several  years  prior  to  that  Condition- 
time,  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  associated  in  school 
work  with  Dr.  Matthew  J.  Elgas,  now  District  Superin- 
tendent, but  at  that  time,  principal  of  Public  School  No. 
69,   New   York.     The   Doctor  professed   a   faith   in   a 
doctrine  that  was  simple  and  at  the  same  time  effective 
and  was  to  this  effect:     That  a  child  came  to  school  toj 
learn — not  only  spelling,  but  behavior  as  well ;  that  a   j 
teacher  came  to  school  to  teach  the  child  what  it  ought  \ 
to  learn ;  and  that  the  principal  came  to  school  to  assist,  ' 
to  encourage  and  to  supervise. 

These  ideas  he  daily  carried  out  and  Public  School 
No.  69  became  noted  as  one  of  the  best  disciplined 
schools  in  the  city— a  reputation  it  may  be  added,  by 
way  of  emphasis,  it  honestly  deserved. 


2  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

It  was  under  these  conditions— with  children  trained 
to  a  wholesome  respect  for  school  duties,  with  teachers 
eager  to  put  forth  their  best  efforts  for  the  children  and 
the  school,  and  with  a  principal  level-headed,  capable 
and  broad-minded— that  the  idea  of  pupil  self-govern- 
^    ment  was  conceived  and  successfully  applied. 
cts     e  When  I  was  appointed  to  that  school  in  1893  I  found 

there  the  custom  of  allowing  the  pupils  from  the  upper 
grades  to  meet  as  a  class  society  during  the  last  hour  of 
each  school  week.  The  avowed  purpose  of  this  was  to 
give  these  pupils  an  opportunity  to  learn  concretely  how 
to  conduct  meetings  and  to  supplement  informally  the 
regular  studies  of  the  grade.  I  was  present  at  these 
meetings  and  from  the  first  became  greatly  interested 
in  them.  For  each  meeting  the  committee  prepared  an 
elaborate  program  consisting  of  readings,  declamations, 
essays,  and  debates,  and  I  was  surprised  at  the  zeal  with 
which  they  entered  upon  their  tasks.  But  what  attracted 
my  attention  most  was  the  orderly  manner  in  which  the 
pupils  conducted  themselves  and  the  cheerful  manner 
In  which  they  responded  to  orders. 

This  set  me  to  thinking,  and  it  was  not  long  before  I 
came  to  this  conclusion:     That  the  moral  influence  of  •' 
these  meetings  far  surpassed  in  value  their  intellectual 
influence.     With  this  idea  now  uppermost  in  my  mind, 
/     I  studied  these  weekly  gatherings,  no  longer  as  means  to 
knowledge  and  intellectual  power  but  as  occasions  for 
training  in  self-control,  self-initiation  and  self-direction./ 
I  was  now  in   possession  of  these  facts:     That  the 
pupils  enjoyed  having  a  voice  in  their  own  government, 


INTEODUCTION  3 

that  they  showed  a  disposition  to  support  such  a  govern- 
ment and  that  their  experience  in  self-direction  was 
exerting  a  beneficial  influence  upon  them.  These  led  me 
to  consider  the  advisability  of  attempting  a  wider  appli- 
cation of  the  principle  of  self-government. 

For  some  time  I  wavered  in  my  determination,  but 
eventually  I  announced  to  my  pupils  my  intention  of 
conferring  upon  them  the  right  of  self-government,  and 
called  upon  them  to  prove  themselves  worthy  of  this 
privilege.  At  the  next  regular  meeting,  officers  were 
chosen,  and  a  constitution  adopted — thereafter,  self- 
government,  so  fajxlis  it  concerned  the  class-room,  had 
begun  its  empipdal  existence,  for  after  this,  so  long  as  I 
remained  in  that  school,  the  discipline  and  management 
of  the  class  devolved  upon  the  children  themselves. 

One  word  only  in  reference  to  this,  my  first  experi- 
ment in  pupil  self-government.  It  had  its  trials  and  its 
tribulations  as  well  as  its  successes,  for  my  ignorance  of 
the  subject  was  offset  by  my  enthusiasm  for  it.  On  the 
whole,  however,  it  proved  worthy  of  the  faith  reposed  in 
it. 

The  movement  began  to  spread,  first  to  one  class,  then  Its  Spread 
to  another  until  nearly  all  the  upper  grades  in  Public  ln  Pu"llc 
School  No.   69  had  adopted  it,  while  the  school  as  a  No  69 
whole  soon  proved  that  it  was  not  insensible  to  its  influ- 
ence.   Thus  I  recall  that  some  time  before  the  formal  in- 
troduction of  this  scheme  of  self-government  into  the 
school,  the  pupils  on  several  occasions  met  in  the  large 
assembly  hall,  elected  their  officers  and  conducted  the 
business  which  called  them  together.     On  one  such  occa- 


4  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

sion  occurred  the  presentation  of  a  flag  by  a  Grand  Army 
Post;  on  another  an  inter-class  debate;  on  another  the 
formation  of  an  Anti-Cigarette  League,  which  continued 
its  meetings  for  two  or  three  months  to  try  delinquents, 
Its  the  public  opinion  of  the  school  acting  as  a  sort  of  court 

Further  which  meted  out  punishment  to  those  who  had  broken 
Develop-  tneir  pledges.  The  atmosphere  of  Public  School  No.  69 
was  charged  with  self-government,  but  only  occasionally 
did  this  spirit  manifest  itself.  It  needed  a  dynamic 
idea  to  set  it  free  and  to  make  it  a  conscious  force  in 
education.  This  idea,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  was  sup- 
plied by  one  who  had  no  direct  connection  with  schools— 
Mr.  Wilson  L.  Gill,  a  remarkable  man  of  great  personal 
character  and  originality,  who,  in  1891,  had  organized  the 
Patriotic  League  of  America.  Mr.  Gill  was  the  presi- 
dent of  that  league,  and  I  became  a  life  member  of  the 
parent  league,  and  afterward  president  of  a  subordinate 
league  or  chapter.  Our  tasks  and  sympathies  led  to  a 
close  acquaintance,  and  many  and  earnest  were  our  con- 
ferences looking  to  the  promotion  of  the  purposes  of  the 
Patriotic  League  which  concerned  itself  solely  with  the 
promotion  of  national  loyalty  and  patriotism. 

Mr.  Gill  took  great  interest  in  my  school  work, 
especially  in  the  direction  of  the  development  of  per- 
sonal character  in  the  pupils.  He  visited  my  class-room 
frequently.  He  learned  of  the  School  Patrol  which  had 
been  inaugurated  years  before  and  which  was  similar  in 
all  respects  to  the  Police  Department  of  the  present 
self-government  school;  he  saw  other  evidences  also  of 
an  incipient  movement  toward  self-government,  and 


INTRODUCTION  5 

with  prophetic  insight  he  recognized  its  possibilities  and 
seizing  the  psychologic  moment  gave  breath,  coherence 
and  definiteness  to  this  movement.  Mr.  Gill  took  self- 
government  out  of  the  narrow  sphere  of  class  manage- 
ment and  out  of  the  category  of  sporadic  manifestations 
in  school  government  and  broadened  it  into  a  general 
means  of  moral  training.  He  did  more  than  this ;  it 
was  the  stimulus  of  the  Patriotic  League  and  of  his  own 
personality,  the  formation  of  a  chapter  from  among  the 
pupils  of  No.  69,  and  his  own  enthusiasm  in  the  cause 
of  good  government,  which  directed  my  attention  to 
kindred  subjects  and  ultimately  led  me  to  traverse  the 
initial  stages  of  self-government. 

When  this  scheme  of  pupil  self-government  proved  a  The  Intr°- 

success  in  Public  School  No.  69,  it  rapidly  found  its  f^*!?*  c 

7  the  Scheme 

way  into  a  number  ot  other  schools,  both  in  this  and  in  Into  other 
other  cities,  having  been  introduced  there  by  those  who  Schools 
either  had  observed  its  operation  or  had  read  of  it  in 
some  periodical. 

Now  this  show  of  faith  in  its  efficiency  and  its  rapid  Causes  of 
development  requires  a  word  of  explanation,  and  this   . 
is  offered  by  the  general  prevalence  of  pedagogical  zeal 
in  all  new  movements,  by  the  nature  of  the  movement 
itself  and  by  the  character  of  the  scheme. 

Teachers,  particularly  if  they  are  progressive,  are 
ever  ready  to  adopt  any  new  idea  or  movement  which 
bids  fair  to  result  in  benefit  to  their  pupils.  And  while 
they  may  be  often  charged,  and  justly  too,  with  trying 
the  new  before  they  have  given  it  sufficient  considera- 
tion and  thought  there  is  no  occasion  for  the  charge. 


6  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

For  there  are  empirical  movements  whose  truths,  only 
vaguely  felt,  are  yet  acquiesced  in  by  the  educational 
world,  long  before  they  are  abstracted  from  the  mass  of 
experience  which  they  sanction,  but  in  which  they  lie 
hidden  from  casual  observation.  Pupil  self-government 
belonged  to  this  class.  Its  early  introduction  marked 
the  beginning  of  the  empirical  stage  of  its  existence,  and 
this  stage  called  only  for  faith  in  the  movement  and  for 
a  knowledge  of  the  mechanics  of  the  scheme. 

Furthermore,  the  scheme  itself  was  an  allurement 
which  no  one  with  any  spark  of  professional  sentiment 
X  could  have  withstood.  For  it  was  simple  and  concrete— 
it  called  for  a  mere  transfer  of  authority  from  teacher ' 
to  pupil  and  for  a  simple  form  of  government  fashioned 
after  the  City  Charter.  It  was,  besides,  lofty  in  aim— 
the  formation  of  character  was  its  goal.  This  was  a  direct 
p.  appeal  to  the  practical  and  to  the  ideal  side  of  the  teach- 
er ?s  nature ;  for  it  professed  to  develop  in  the  child  a 
habit  of  right  conduct  by  training  him  in  the  very  vir- 
tues which  constitute  morality. 

Cause  of  Its  If  we  now  look  back  at  this  movement  from  the  van- 
Failure  tage  ground  of  experience  and  increased  knowledge  we 
can  readily  explain  the  cause  of  its  general  failure. 
For  we  can  now  see  that  there  was  connected  with  this 
movement  from  its  very  beginning  an  element  of  weak- 
ness which  made  itself  felt  in  almost  every  instance  in 
which  the  scheme  was  tried,  and  which  eventually  cast 
discredit  upon  the  idea  of  pupil  self-government.  This 
element  of  weakness  was  the  false  inference  which  was 
drawn  from  the  original  observations  of  the  workings  of 
the  scheme. 


INTRODUCTION"  7 

/ 

(  It  is  natural  for  the  average  mind  not  only  to  rest 

content  with  observation  but  to  interpret  intellectual 
associations  as  cause  and  effect.)  Such  minds  do  not  in- 
vestigate because  they  do  not  feel  the  necessity  for  in- 
vestigation ;  they  do  not  look  beneath  the  surface  because 
they  do  not  suspect  the  existence  of  reasons  other  than 
the  superficial.  But  they  do  rest  satisfied  with  the  cor- 
rectness of  their  own  perceptions  ;  and  they  do  take  for 
granted  the  validity  of  their  conclusions  concerning  the 
relations  they  perceived  existing  between  contiguous 
phenomena. 

This,  then,  explains  why  those  who  first  observed  self- 
government  in  operation  made  their  false  inference. 
They  simply  yielded  to  the  tendency  to  associate  as  means 
and  ends  the  mechanics  of  the  movement  and  the  results 
of  good  training  which  were  in  evidence.  They  saw 
order;  they  saw  an  admirable  school  spirit;  they  saw 
also,  at  the  same  time,  the  scheme  in  operation  ;  and  they 
cheerfully  adopted  the  inference  that  the  one  was  the 
outcome  of  the  other.  It  never  occurred  to  them  to  in- 
quire whether  that  spirit  of  cheerful  obedience  existed 
before  the  introduction  of  the  scheme  —  &  mode  of  pro- 

r~t)y    or  d  m  a  vy~ 


but  it  did  occur  to  them  to  become  enthused  with  a  de- 
sire to  imitate  what  they  observed.)  What  they  ob- 
served was  not  the  spirit  or  the  vitalizing  force  of  the 
scheme,  but  its  form  and  its  mechanism^  so  that  what 
they  introduced  into  their  own  schools  was  not  self-gov- 
ernment, but  government  by  children  ;  and  these  mani- 
fested a  temporary  interest  in  the  scheme,  not  because 


8  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

it   found  a  response   in  their  hearts,   but  because   its   • 
novelty,  supported  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  teacher, 

/ttracted  them  for  the  time  being. 
I  need  scarcely  add  that  I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
believe  that  the  mere  introduction  of  the  scheme  of  self- 
government  among  children  will  necessarily  insure  their 
training  in  moral  conduct.     On  the  contrary,  I  believe: 

1.  That,  so  far  as  it  concerns  the  elementary  schools, 
civic  government  is  primarily  an  end.     As  a  means,  it  is 
of  little  or  no  value  to  the  untrained  child ;  for  the  mere 
knowledge  of  the  machinery  of  government,  even  the 
participation  in  it,  will  not  make  a  child  truly  self- 
governing.     In  this  I  differ  radically  from  Mr.  Gill,  and 
I  assign  this  difference  of  opinion  to  the  fact  that  I  view 
this  question  from  the  standpoint  of  the  practical  teacher 
rather  than  that  of  the  enthusiastic  theorist.     For  both 
experience  and  observation  as  well  as  theory  have  con- 
vinced me. 

2.  That  a  certain  amount  of  training  in  right  conduct 
is  an  essential  prerequisite  to  the  introduction  of  the 
scheme.     Self-government,  as  the  formal  expression  of 
the  moral  self,  presupposes  the  existence  of  an  inner  ap- 
preciation of  right  conduct,  of  a  tendency  to  right  judg- 
ment when  confronted  by  deliberation,  and  of  a  will 
that  executes  in  the  presence  of  what  is  conceived  to  be 
a  duty.     These  bespeak  a  degree  of  moral  development, 
the  result  of  training.     In  other  words,  the  introduction 
of  self-government  into  a  school  is  contingent  upon  the 
answer  to  the  question :  Are  the  conditions  favorable  to  * 
the  reception  of  the  scheme?     If  the  answer  is  in  the  \ 


INTRODUCTION  9 

.  negative,  the  child's  participation  in  the  scheme  of  self- 
government  is  a  mere  formal  act ;  and  the  new  rights  and 
privileges  with  which  the  child  is  invested,  finding  no 
apperceiving  moral  mass  which  may  interpret  them  in 
terms  of  duty,  are  liable  to  degenerate  into  license.  If, 
however,  the  answer  is  in  the  affirmative,  if  the  child 
possesses  the  essential  training,  then  self-government 
should  be  introduced. 

3.  That  self-government,  introduced  under  favorable 
conditions,  has  the  following  advantages: 

a.  It  teaches  the  child  the  fundamental  notions  of  our 
government  and  the  method  of  their  application. 

b.  It  gives  opportunity  for  expressions  to  become  im- 
pressions.    The   ethical   training  the   child  receives  in 
school  is  clarified,  rationalized,  and  reinforced  by  this 
practical  application. 

c.  It  gives  the  principle  of  action  and  reaction  an 
opportunity  for  full  play.     As  in  all  development  along 
apperceptive  lines,  the  processes  which  enter  into  the 
formation  of  character  exert  reciprocal  influences  upon 
each  other.     Ethical  training  assists  in  the  appreciation 
of  civic  life;  civic  training  aids  in  the  upbuilding  of 
character.     In  short,  it  may  be  made  a  means  to  higher 
moral  development. 

d.  It  gives  the  teacher  a  concrete  goal.     This  is  an 
important  consideration;  for  the  aims  of  education  as 
enunciated  are  generally  so  vague  that  they  are  of  little 
value  as  guides  to  practice.  J 

My  practice  all  along  has  been  in  conformity  with  my 
conviction.     When  I  was  transferred  from  No.   69   as 


10 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


Acknowl- 
edgments 


Conforming  first  assistant  to  another  school  where  I  remained  nearly 
Practice  four  years,  I  failed  to  introduce  this  scheme  there,  not 
ory  because  I  lacked  enthusiasm  for  it,  nor  because  I  did 
not  labor  conscientiously  in  its  behalf,  but  because  all 
the  conditions  essential  to  its  success  were  never  present 
at  one  and  the  same  time.  And  later,  when  I  became 
principal  of  Public  School  No.  125,  Manhattan,  and  had 
better  opportunity  to  carry  out  my  own  ideas,  I  did 
not  deem  it  safe  to  introduce  self-government  there 
until  three  years  had  elapsed  from  the  day  I  took 
charge. 

For  the  success  which  attended  this  movement  in  this 
school,  a  large  share  of  the  credit  is  due  to  the  teachers 
who  were  associated  with  me  there.  Their  earnestness 
and  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  movement  communicated  them- 
selves to  the  rest  of  the  school ;  and  their  thoughtful  and 
valuable  suggestions,  which  I  incorporated  in  the  scheme, 
did  much  to  improve  and  to  broaden  it.  In  this  con- 
nection I  desire,  also,  to  make  special  acknowledgment 
of  my  indebtedness  to  two  of  my  former  teachers  in  Pub- 
lic School  No.  125,  Mr.  Henry  W.  Fox  and  Mr.  Alfred 
J.  Appleby,  who  were  indefatigable  in  the  cause  of  the 
movement ;  and  to  my  District  Superintendent,  Dr.  John 
H.  Haaren,  who  not  only  gave  the  movement  the  benefit 
of  his  sympathy,  encouragement  and  advice,  but  defended 
it  in  the  face  of  attack,  and  advocated  its  adoption  under 
proper  conditions. 

Of  my  present  school  in  its  relation  to  the  subject  of 
self-government,  I  can  say  only  that  I  have  not  been  in 
charge  of  it  long  enough  either  to  introduce  this  scheme 


My 

Present 

School 


INTEODUCTION  11 

or  to  state  with  any  degree  of  exactness  when  it  will  be 
ready  for  it.  Of  this,  however,  I  am  certain :  That  with 
the  added  experience  gained  in  Public  School  No.  125, 
and  with  the  same  District  Superintendent  to  encourage 
the  movement,  the  paving  of  the  way  for  its  introduction 
will  not  require  as  long  a  time  as  it  would  otherwise  have 
done. 

My  efforts  along  this  movement  during  the  past  ten  Its 
years  have  been  directed  not  so  much  to  forward  the 
immediate  development  of  this  movement  as  to  examine 
into  its  conditions  and  to  study  its  relations  to  ethical 
and  civic  training  in  our  schools.  Up  to  the  present 
time  I  think  it  has  been  well  for  the  pupil  self-govern- 
ment movement  that  it  has  been  pushed  from  outside  the 
schools  and  by  amateurs  rather  than  by  professionals  in 
educational  work.  In  the  first  stages  of  the  movement 
those  in  the  inside  could  not  have  given  to  it  the  necessary 
time  and  enthusiasm  which  were  possible  on  the  part  of 
those  who  have  had,  for  the  time,  no  other  care  or 
thought  regarding  the  schools.  It  is  now  time,  I  am  per- 
suaded, that  it  should  be  studied  carefully  by  all  edu- 
cators, and  its  possibilities  and  limitations  measured  and 
understood. 

In  our  pedagogy  we  have  studied  the  individual  mind ;  A  Line  of 

our  educational  philosophy  is  the  philosophy  of  individ-  In^uiry 

v  i,    -U         A    '*      V*»         /  r+       Suggested 

ualism ;  and  we  build  on  the  foundation  of  personality. 

Is  there  not  in  school  government,  as  well  as  in  civil 
government,   such  a   thing   as   community   intelligence,  - 
public  opinion,  esprit  de  corps;  and  may  we  not  draw  on 
this  as  the  basis  of  apperception,  not  in  the  individual 


12  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

only,  but  also  in  the  mass,  so  that  we  can  build  up  the 
self-governing  power,  the  principle  of  self-restraint 
throughout  the  school  community  by  a  sort  of  mutual 
emulation,  a  standardizing  of  the  best  as  the  rule  of 
conduct?  Is  this  not  the  secret  of  the  instant  success 
of  pupil  self-government  in  so  many  cases? 

Conclusion  Jn  this  spirit  and  with  this  thought  I  have  made  the 
study  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  pupil  self-govern- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  II 

ITS  THEORY 

i/ 

The  term  self-government  has  both  a  civic  meaning  Differentia- 
and  an  ethical  meaning ;  and  it  is  essential  for  the  proper  tion 
understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  subsequent  dis- 
cussion of  this  topic,  that  the  difference  between  the 
two  meanings  be  made  clear  at  the  outset.  \/ 

X Self-government,  as  a  civic  conception,  refers  to  the  Definitions, 
practice  of  individuals  in  shaping  tbe  conduct  of  the 
government  under  which  they  live ;  and  this  practice 
includes  the  making  of  laws,  their  interpretation,  and 
their  execution.     Self-government,  as  an  ethical  concep-  > 
tion,  refers  to  the  powers  of  individuals  to  shape  their 
conduct  in  accordance  with  a  preconceived  moral  stand- 
ard ;  and  this  power  includes  self-control  and  self-direc- 
tion— the  ability  to  inhibit  wrong  impulses  and  to  initiate   / 
proper  acts.  / 

The  civic  idea  deals  with  concrete  acts;  the  ethical  Their 
idea,  with  character.     But  as  moral  acts  are  conditioned  Relation 
by  the  moral  tone  of  the  individual,  civic  self-govern- 
ment, viewed  either  as  an  abstract  right  or  as  an  actual 
manifestation,  must  seek  justification  for  its  origin  and 
its  continuance   in    ethical   self-government.     In   other 
words,  civic  self-government  must  be  regarded  as  the 

13 


14 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 


Popular 
Opinion 


The 

Chief 

Question 


The 

Organic 
Unity   of 
Man 


expression  of  ethical  self-government,  which  is  the 
impression. 

That  popular  opinion  and  practice  uphold  this  view, 
only  strengthens  the  validity  of  this  statement.  No 
one  claims  for  a  savage,  barbarous,  or  semi-civilized 
people  the  right  to  political  freedom,  because  it  is  con- 
ceded that  for  the  purpose  of  successful  self-government, 
a  high  degree  of  moral  development  is  necessary.  And 
what  is  true  of  a  people  is  true  also  of  an  individual. 
This  is  evidenced  by  our  conduct  towards  the  young  in 
denying  them  the  right  to  freedom  of  action  until  such 
time  as  they  have  proven  themselves  capable  of  appre- 
ciating the  rights,  duties,  and  privileges  which  emanci- 
pation from  external  control  entails — until  their  moral 
sense  has  been  sufficiently  developed. 

Moral  strength  is  the  basis  for  the  right  to  freedom  of 
action,  self-direction,  self-government;  and  the  question 
of  the  means  best  adapted  for  its  acquisition  calls  for 
first  consideration.  This  will  be  complied  with  in  the 
following  exposition  along  psychologic  lines. 

The  conception  of  the  organic  unity  of  man  makes 
valid  the  inference  that  every  influence,  no  matter  what 
its  character,  or  origin,  or  aim,  must  of  necessity  affect 
each  individual  in  his  totality.  The  result  of  physical 
activity  cannot  be  confined  to  the  body,  but  is  recognized 
in  the  intellect  and  in  the  moral  tone  of  the  individual  ; 
intellectual  activity  evinces  itself  in  the  physical  and  in 
the  moral  nature  of  man  gust  as  truly  as  it  does  in  its 
own  special  sphere ;  while  moral  action,  revealed  in  the 
development  of  character,  is  a  determining  factor  in  the 


ITS  THEORY  15 

growth  of  the  body  and  of  the  intellect.  Effects  cannot 
be  isolated  or  confined  within  special  limits,  because  from 
the  very  nature  of  man  as  a  psychic  being,  there  is  a 
constant  action,  ^reaction,  and  interaction  of  all  the  ele- 
ments and  phases  which  constitute  the  individual. 

And  yet  this  view  of  the  organic  unity  of  man,  while  The  Three- 
true  as  a  general  characterization  of  the  psychic  indi-  fold 
vidual,  is  inadequate  for  a  fuller  conception  of  his  Natl^re 
nature.  For  while  the  individual  is  always  a  one,  a  unit, 
a  totality,  he  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  trinity  of  body,  in- 
tellect and  character.  So  that,  while  it  is  true  that  what 
affects  one  element  of  this  trinity  affects  also  the  other 
two,  it  is  equally  true  that  each  element  demands  a 
specific  and  characteristic  treatment  for  its  development. 
The  moral  element  as  unmistakably  calls  for  its  specific  ^ 
aliment,  for  the  purpose  of  growth,  as  does  the  body  for 
physical  exercise,  and  the  intellect  for  studies ;  and  it  is 
as  unwise  to  substitute  the  means  for  developing  one 
element  for  those  necessary  for  another,  and  hope  for 
ideal  results  to  follow,  as  it  would  be  to  expect  a  duck's 
egg  to  hatch  a  chicken  simply  because  it  was  set  upon  by 
the  required  length  of  time  by  a  hen.  'Physical  exercise 
alone  is  insufficient  for  moral  and  intellectual  training; 
studies  by  themselves  cannot  train  the  body;  can  they, 
under  the  same  conditions,  train  the  moral  sense  of  the 
child? 

The  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  moral  training,  in 
order  that  it  may  attain  its  goal,  must  be  provided  with 
means  peculiarly  adapted  to  exercise  the  will.  This  does 
not  mean  the  mere  concentration  of  the  attention,  the 


16        .  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

Moral  cultivation  of  the  feelings,  the  formation  of  good  habits 

Training  along  specific  lines  of  activity,  or  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge  and  power.  Interest,  sympathy,  intelligence, 
Means  anc*  Pr°Per  environment,  are  valuable  adjuncts  to  any 
scheme  of  moral  education,  but  only  so  because  they 
assist  in  bringing  about  a  habit  of  ready  response  to 
constituted  authority.  Obedience  is  the  main  element 
in  moral  training  and  therefore  the  conception  of  obedi- 
ence as  a  means,  and  of  cheerful  obedience  as  an  end 
should  be  the  guide  of  the  teacher  in  his  training  of 
children. 

Present  This  is  not  the  view  that  has  obtained  in  recent  years, 

Conception  anc[?  as  a  consequence,  teachers  have  concerned  themselves 
not  so  much  with  carrying  out  the  real  aim  of  discipline, 
as  with  searching  for  a  method  that  would  cajole  the 
child  into  right  behavior;  and  this  has  been  carried  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  call  forth  a  ringing  protest  from  one 
whom  every  one  will  recognize  as  a  man  of  conscience 
and  public  spirit.*  He  tells  us  in  words  fraught  with 
power  and  insight,  that  "submission  to  cajolery  is  not 
submission  to  authority,"  and  that  "the  best  and  most 
I  fundamental  lesson  a  child  ever  learns  is  to  obey. ' '  And 
after  assuring  his  readers  that  he  is  impelled  by  no 
sanguinary  motives  against  the  child,  he  continues, 
apropos  of  the  moral  training  of  children ;  and  his  words 
deserve  to  be  impressed  upon  the  memory:  "Therefore 
to  know  that  every  moral  act  that  man  or  child  can  per- 
form has  a  fixed  statute  definitely  relevant  to  it,  is  the 
very  alphabet  of  ethics ;  and  it  is  because  so  much  of  our 
*Dr.  Charles  H.  Parkhurst  in  Munsey  's  Magazine,  April,  1906. 


ITS  THEORY  17 

home-training  is  skipping  this  alphabet  that  children  are 
growing  up  without  the  ability  to  understand  the  para- 
graphs and  chapters  of  this  matter,  and  that  the  home 
becomes  the  nursery  of  adult  anarchy.  This  does  not 
mean  that  a  child  should  be  harnessed  into  a  treadmill  of 
continuous  parental  precept,  and  have  no  opportunity 
allowed  him  for  the  exercise  of  his  moral  judgment— a 
policy  that  would  leave  unexploited  some  of  the  very 
iinest  faculties  of  the  incipient  soul;  but  it  does  mean 
that  whether  the  child  does  as  his  parent  tells  him,  or 
does  as  he  tells  himself,  his  doing  is  to  square  with  some- 
thing other  than  an  inwardly  contained  authority.  It 
means,  furthermore,  that  what  he  does  is  not  right  be- 
cause he  decided  to  do  it,  is  not  right  because  he  thinks 
it  is  right,  but  right  because  it  is  in  the  line  of  the 
supreme  law  legislated  for  man  to  obey  and  in  force 
before  there  was  any  man  or  child  here  to  obey  it. ' ' 

It  means,  lastly,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  our  public 
schools  to  insist  upon  obedience,  not  only  because  it  is  the 
law  of  the  Universe,  but  because  the  future  welfare  of 
the  child  and  the  nature  of  the  teacher  as  an  educator 
demand  this  insistence. 

This  statement  is  made  unqualifiedly,  although  with 
a  full  appreciation  of  the  nature  of  the  obedience  which 
the  schools  should  strive  to  inculcate.  And  this  surely 
is  not  a  blind  and  unreasoning  response  to  outward 
authority.  The  history  of  our  institutions,  the  ideals 
upon  which  they  are  built,  and  the  predestined  future 
of  the  child  as  a  citizen  of  our  commonwealth,  give  in- 
controvertible evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  contention. 


18 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


But  it  is  an  obedience,  intelligent,  voluntary,  and  cheer- 
ful, the  result  of  motives  which  are  sanctioned  by  the 
developed  moral  self. 

While  this  is  the  highest  form  of  obedience  and  should 
be  the  goal  of  the  teacher's  endeavors;  yet,  as  long  as 
obedience  remains  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Universe, 
and  the  chief  element  in  character-building,  so  long  must 
it  be  rendered  to  properly  constituted  authority.  Obedi- 
ence should  be  self-initiated,  voluntary,  and  cheerful,  if 
possible ;  compulsory,  if  need  be ;  for  blind  submission, 
particularly  as  a  prerequisite  to  a  higher  form  of  obedi- 
ence, is  better  than  license  and  anarchy. 

The  attention  will  now  be  directed  to  method  in  moral 
training ;  and  for  this  purpose  an  attempt  will  be  made 
to  broaden  the  term  apperception  so  as  to  include  not 
only  intellectual  training  to  which  present  theory  and 
practice  have  limited  its  activity,  but  also  physical  and 
moral  training  as  well.  The  value  of  this  step  is  self- 
evident,  for  its  success  will  convert  this  principle  from 
one  of  method  in  the  intellectual  field  alone,  to  a  general 
principle  of  education,  from  which  may  be  deduced  the 
method  for  developing  the  whole  of  the  individual. 
Justification  The  ego  responds  to  stimuli,  initiates  and  carries  into 
execution  activities,  and  shows  effects  of  influences,  as  a 
totality.  It  is,  accordingly,  inconceivable  that  nature 
which  is  uniform,  simple,  and  economic,  would  impose 
upon  this  same  ego  one  law  for  the  development  of  one 
class  of  its  elementary  manifestations,  and  another  law 
for  another  class.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  more  reason- 
able to  assume  the  existence  of  one  general  law  of 


Method  in 
Moral 
Training: 
Appercep- 
tion 


ITS  THEOBY  19 

development;  and  this  contention  is  borne  out  by  the 
known  facts  of  human  growth  and  development.  Prog- 
ress in  the  evolution  of  the  physical,  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties,  it  is  recognized,  proceeds  step  by  step, 
each  marking  a  stage  of  mastery  evolved  out  of  a 
previous  stage,  and  at  the  same  time,  a  starting  point 
for  a  later  stage.  In  other  words,  in  nature,  what  is, 
depends  upon  what  has  gone  before. 

This  has  been  elaborated  under  Intellectual  Appercep-  Intellectual 
tion  as  the  process  whereby  new  knowledge  is  assimilated  Appercep- 
by  relating  it  to  similar  knowledge  previously  acquired — 
which  is  but  another  way  for  saying  that,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  development,  there  must  exist,  in  the  mind,  an 
apperceiving  mass  with  which  to  interpret  the  new,  in 
order  to  enable  it  eventually  to  become  an  integral  part 
of  the  mind's  content  and  a  means  for  a  subsequent  ap- 
perception. The  success,  then,  of  incoming  knowledge- 
material  in  becoming  integrated  with  existing  knowledge, 
argues  the  presence  of  an  apperceiving  mass;  while  its 
failure  to  do  so,  argues  the  absence  of  this  interpreting 
active  material. 

From  this  it  is  inferred  that  the  result  of  previous 
experience,  and  the  development  conditioned  by  it,  are 
the  specific  elements  of  apperception;  and  that  the 
thought  processes,  and  the  physical  and  the  moral  activ- 
ities which  accompany  them,  are  the  general  manifesta- 
tions of  the  living  organism.  These  are  met  with  in 
every  other  activity  as  well;  while  the  nature  of  the 
experience,  whether  physical,  intellectual,  or  moral,  and 
the  development  which  this  same  experience  makes 


20 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 


Physical 
Appercep- 
tion 


Moral  Ap- 
perception 


The  Value 
of  Apper- 
ception to 
Moral 
Training 


possible,    determine    the    nature    of    the    apperception. 

Now  physical  education  is  a  training  of  the  body  to 
respond  readily  to  stimuli  by  a  successive  grafting  of 
new  movements  upon  those  previously  mastered  and 
controlled.  And  what  is  this  but  apperception  in  the 
physical  world— a  process  guided,  it  is  true,  during  its 
activity,  by  the  intellect  and  by  the  moral  sense,  but  deal- 
Ing  throughout  with  physical  phenomena,  and  because 
of  this  relating  of  new  bodily  exercises  with  the  old,  re- 
sulting ultimately  in  a  new  muscular  habit  or  in  a  finer 
articulation  and  complexity  of  muscular  movement? 

Again,  moral  education  is  the  process  of  developing  in 
the  child  a  habit  of  cheerful  response  to  duty  by  utiliz- 
ing the  results  of  his  previous  moral  training  as  a  basis 
for  his  subsequent  larger  moral  insight  and  power;  for 
even  here  nature  makes  no  jumps,  but  directs  develop- 
ment along  the  predestined  course  of  its  evolution.  And 
what  is  this  but  moral  apperception,  and  the  physical 
and  the  intellectual  manifestations  accompanying  it,  a 
condition  to  its  activity? 

The  chief  value  of  the  foregoing  discussion  lies  in  the 
realization  that  while  physical  apperception  issues  in 
muscular  movement,  intellectual  apperception  in  oral 
or  written  expression ,  and  moral  apperception  in  moral 
action;  they  are  all  subject  to  the  same  conditions, 
method,  and  law,  during  the  process  of  their  develop- 
ment. •  This  being  so,  moral  education,  which  is  of  chief 
concern  to  the  subject  of  self-government,  will  find  sug- 
gestion and  guide  in  the  well-known  facts  of  intellectual 
apperception. 


ITS  THEOEY  21 

Now  in  the  latter,  no  test  or  application  can  be  made 
of  any  rule,  law,  maxim,  or  principle,  unless  each  has 
first  been  induced;  or,  to  express  this  idea  in  terms  of 
the  Formal  Steps,  no  application  of  either  is  possible  be- 
fore it  has  passed  through  the  stages  of  preparation, 
presentation,  comparison,  abstraction,  and  generaliza- 
tion. But  self-government,  whether  viewed  from  the 
standpoint  of  ethics  or  of  civics,  whether  as  the  result  of 
good  influences  manifested  in  the  ability  of  moral  self- 
direction,  or  as  the  moral  self  in  concrete  acts,  is  the 
application-step  of  moral  apperception.  It  therefore 
presupposes  the  existence  of  tendencies  of  right  action 
as  the  result  of  previous  moral  training. 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  whole  life  of  the  individual  Material 
up  to  the  moment  when  he  is  about  to  express  himself  in  for  Moral 
action,  has  been  one  general  preparation  for  this  action— 
that  his  life  has  been  one  constant  process  of  activity 
and  passivity  and  of  storing  up  a  moral  apperceiving 
mass,  moral  perceptions,  and  the  results  of  unconscious 
comparisons,  abstractions,  and  generalizations;  and  the 
force  of  the  claim  for  a  proper  preparation*  previous  to 
the  introduction  of  self-government,  becomes  more  and 
more  evident. 

^Includes  all  the  formal   steps   except  application. 


CHAPTEE  III 
ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS 

Self-government  calls  for  a  preparation,  on  the  part 
of  the  child,  which  will  result  in  a  degree  of  his  moral 
development  necessary  for  him  to  apperceive  his  new 
rights  and  obligations.  This  is  the  pivotal  thought— that 
proper  preliminary  training  is  essential  to  the  success 
of  any  scheme  of  self-government,  and  this  presupposes : 
I.  The  Existence  of  a  Proper  Ideal 

Government  which  takes  into  account  the  conduct  of 
the  moment  only  and  disregards  character-building,  or 
discipline  which  looks  only  to  an  expiation  for  past 
offenses,  has  its  value  in  maintaining  an  outwardly  well- 
regulated  school,  but  it  does  not  touch  the  mainspring 
of  the  child's  moral  nature,  does  not  start  into  being 
those  activities,  which,  properly  exercised,  ultimately 
result  in  character.  The  principal  or  the  teacher,  who 
works  without  a  definite  moral  aim,  may  labor  con- 
scientiously and  incessantly  in  the  cause  of  education,  but 
he  will  fail  to  realize  his  hopes.  He  must  have  con- 
stantly before  him  the  ideal  embodied  in  some  concrete 
form. 

The  ideal  now  calls  for  execution ;  for  schools  are  not 
retreats  for  philosophers.  They  are  workshops  where 

22 


ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS  23 

practical  men  and  women  are  engaged  in  molding  and 
in  fashioning  children  by  prescribed  means,  and  along 
prescribed  lines  into  likenesses  of  the  concrete  aim— the 
self-governing  child.  To  do  this  successfully  requires — 

II.    A  Competent  Principal 

There  is  no  factor  of  the  school  more  important  than 
he.  A  school  reflects  the  character  of  the  man  at  its 
head.  A  weak  man  engenders  in  the  mind  of  the  child 
a  contempt  for  authority.  A  strong  man  calls  forth  the 
very  best  of  his  possibilities.  A  weak  principal  makes 
of  the  school  a  place  of  drudgery  for  the  teacher,  and 
of  irksomeness  to  the  child.  A  good  principal  creates 
an  atmosphere  of  a  well-regulated  home  for  both  teacher 
and  pupils. 

Now  as  to  the  specific  qualifications  of  a  competent 
principal.  These  are  : 

Firmness  is  essential:  first,  because  the  laws  of  habit  Firmness 
demand  a  systematic  repetition  of  the  activity ;  secondly, 
because  the  nature  of  the  child  is  such  that  it  inclines 
people  to  humor  him  rather  than  to  train  him.  The 
native  weakness  of  the  child  makes  a  strong  appeal  to 
the  emotional  side  of  the  adult.  This  in  a  great  many 
instances  leads  the  adult  to  adopt  a  training  which  is 
based  upon  his  own  weakness  and  nearsightedness. 
Rational  training  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  child 
represents  an  early  stage  in  the  evolution  of  the  human 
being.  So  that  for  the  purpose  of  growth  certain  of  his 
tendencies  and  habits  must  be  eradicated,  and  others 
must  be  nourished,  exercised,  and  developed.  The  child 


24  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

is  not  an  end  in  himself.  He  is  not  born  the  man  and 
the  citizen ;  he  must  be  developed  into  the  one  and  the 
other,  and,  therefore,  must  be  accustomed  to  restraint 
and  to  submission.  He  must  be  restrained  because  his 
inborn  selfishness,  his  tendency  toward  license,  his  lack 
of  intelligence  and  of  moral  power  preclude  him  from 
grasping  understandingly  the  real  purpose  of  life.  He 
must  be  made  to  yield  submission  because  his  future 
environment  will  impose  this  as  a  condition  to  his  wel- 
fare. These  ends  can  be  brought  about  only  by  invest- 
ing the  control  and  direction  of  children  with  firmness. 
Tact  The  training  of  children  cannot  be  reduced  to  an  auto- 

matic process— one  which  takes  no  account  of  the  vary- 
ing conditions  under  which  it  operates.  On  the  con- 
trary, to  be  rational,  it  must  take  into  consideration 
the  individuality  of  the  particular  child,  his  environ- 
ment, his  previous  training,  and  the  probable  result  of 
a  modification  in  the  method  of  handling  him.  Human 
character  is  the  result  of  heredity  and  environment  at 
work  on  human  instincts  and  for  this  reason  each  indi- 
vidual stands  out  a  distinct  and  discriminated  person- 
ality. For  this  reason  also  each  individual  must  be 
handled  in  the  light  of  his  own  peculiar  personality,  if 
it  is  to  be  hoped  to  accomplish  his  reformation,  improve- 
ment or  development.  This  proper  handling,  this  modi- 
fication of  means  to  suit  the  exigencies  of  each  particular 
instance,  or  individuality,  is  tact — the  most  valuable,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  rarest,  instrument  at  the  disposal 
of  the  teacher.  Firmness,  it  is  true,  is  a  condition  to  the 
successful  management  of  a  school,  but  when  it  assumes 


ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS  25 

the  characteristics  of  a  blind  adherence  to  rules,  it  loses ' 
its  human  element —character,  and  becomes  worse  than 
useless  as  a  means  of  successful  training,  unless  it  is 
leavened  by  tact. 

A  principal  may  possess  both  firmness  and  tact,  and  Patience 
fall  far  short  of  being  an  ideal  trainer  of  children.  He 
must  have,  besides,  patience ;  for  no  one  who  is  not  re- 
signed to  plod  step  by  step,  and,  at  the  same  time,  bear 
the  innumerable  petty  annoyances  incidental  to  the  train- 
ing of  children,  can  successfully  cope  with  the  task  of 
transforming  the  wee  mite  of  gross  animalism  into  a 
rational  and  moral  being.  The  adult  as  a  rule  forgets 
the  difficulties  he  encountered  in  attaining  to  knowledge 
and  power,  and  sees  only  the  results  of  his  development. 
As  a  consequence,  he  overrates  the  child's  ability  to  grasp 
and  appreciate  what  is  presented  to  him,  or  he  under- 
estimates the  difficulties  which  confront  him.  To  offset 
this  unfortunate  tendency  requires  common  sense  and 
patience. 

Just  as  the  imparting  of  information  presupposes  Self' 
previous  acquirement  of  knowledge,  so  the  training  to  Ma! 
right  conduct  presupposes  a  previous  acquirement  of 
the  power  of  self-restraint  and  self-direction.  Firmness 
without  self-mastery  degenerates  into  cruelty;  tact  be- 
comes a  manifestation  of  right  tendencies  thwarted  by 
a  weak  will,  and  patience  a  spasmodic  virtue.  Again, 
example  affects  the  very  fibre  of  the  child's  moral 
development,  for  his  early  life  is  one  constant  expression 
through  imitation,  and  it  imitates  what  it  sees,  good  or 
bad.  A  principal  or  a  teacher  who  habitually  or  even 


26  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

frequently  loses  his  self-control  in  the  presence  of  the 
pupils,  is  no  more  fitted  to  train  children  than  he  is  to 
discharge  judicial  functions  among  adults.  Both  these 
offices  require  a  firmness  of  purpose  which  is  not  easily 
swayed  by  extraneous,  unreasonable,  or  unworthy  con- 
siderations or  motives ;  a  tact  which  is  intuitive  and  which 
deals  out  punishments  with  an  eye  to  their  main  values ; 
a  patience  born  of  the  inner  appreciation  of  the  Golden 
Rule;  and  a  self-mastery  which  evinces  itself  in  a  calm- 
ness of  judgment  which  is  not  easily  ruffled. 

Sympathetic  It  is  true  that  the  aim  of  education  is  to  train  the 
Insight  Into  child  to  a  cheerful  obedience  to  law;  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence, it  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  direct  all  activities 
and  influences  towards  developing  in  the  pupil  a  good 
moral  character.  For  society,  which  later  adopts  the 
child  as  a  member  of  its  own  family,  and  invests  him 
with  all  its  rights,  privileges  and  benefits,  has  a  right  to 
impose  this  qualification  upon  him.  And  yet  the  child 
also  has  certain  rights  of  which  neither  society  nor 
school  can  justly  deprive  him.  A  child,  for  instance, 
has  an  inherent  right  to  happiness,  for  Nature  has  so 
constituted  him  that  he  finds  joy  in  the  mere  fact  of 
living— in  the  spontaneous  .activity  with  which  he  is 
endowed,  to  bring  about  his  own  development ;  and  fail- 
ure to  carry  out  this  suggestion  in  a  scheme  of  education 
must  inevitably  result  in  violence  to  child-nature,  and  in 
harm  to  his  development. 

There  are  presented  here,  then,  two  claims — that  of 
society  which  necessitates  the  employment  of  restraint 
and  that  of  the  child  whose  nature  rebels  at  restraint. 


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ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS  27 

However,  it  is  not  difficult  to  reconcile  these  opposing 
claims,  or  at  least  to  give  to  each  its  just  degree  of 
importance.  Society,  in  the  first  place,  imposes  the  aim 
of  education,  for  the  chief  concern  of  society  is  the 
finished  product  of  education.  In  the  second  place,  the 
child  imposes  the  method  of  education,  for  it  is  only  in 
so  far  as  he  is  trained  physically,  intellectually,  or 
morally,  along  the  natural  course  of  his  development, 
that  he  will  respond  in  a  degree  of  power  possible  to 
him.  And  yet,  the  child  is  weak.  The  larger  part  of 
his  humanity  is  still  in  his  future,  while  his  selfish  in- 
stincts play  the  more  prominent  parts  in  influencing 
his  behavior.  So  that  the  only  conclusion  to  be  reached 
is,  that  while  the  aim,  so  long  as  it  is  conceived  of  as 
such,  must  remain  unchanged,  and  is  at  liberty  to 
modify  method  to  an  extent  necessary  to  carry  out  the 
purpose  of  education,  it  must  not  proceed  beyond  this 
point— the  nature  of  the  child  demands  recognition. 

Sympathetic  insight  will  satisfy  this  demand.  By 
means  of  it  the  trainer  of  children  learns  to  know  and 
to  recognize  their  natural  weaknesses,  the  limitations  of 
their  powers,  and  the  forms  of  appeal  best  suited  to  their 
development ;  and  with  the  aim  of  education  as  his  con- 
stant guide,  he  leads  and  directs,  he  controls  and  trains, 
without  either  the  sentimentality  which  is  the  special 
prerogative  of  the  educational  theorist,  or  the  harshness 
of  the  weak  and  ignorant.  Happiness  as  the  outcome 
or  the  accompaniment  of  law,  order,  and  obedience,  is 
his  motto. 

Enthusiasm   is   needed   to  counteract  the    deadening 


28  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

Enthusiasm  effects  which  dull  routine  and  endless  repetitions  en- 
gender. Enthusiasm  touches  the  mainspring  of  the 
child's  inner  life,  and  stirs  him  to  think,  to  feel,  and  to 
act  along  moral  lines.  In  the  scheme  of  self-government, 
particularly,  is  enthusiasm  not  only  valuable  but  essen- 
tial. The  adult  comes  to  a  realization  of  his  civic  duties 
only  when  his  indignation  is  awakened,  or  his  enthusi- 
asm is  aroused.  The  child,  having  less  at  stake,  and 
with  intellect  and  will  undeveloped,  surely  needs  the 
spur  which  enthusiasm  alone  can  give  him. 

Honesty  -^There  are  principals  who  never  see  any  wrong  done  by 
children.  They  have  a  way  of  looking  and  not  seeing, 
of  hearing  and  not  heeding.  This  is  reprehensible  from 
two  standpoints— from  the  standpoint  of  the  principal 
himself,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  the  child.  So  far 
as  it  concerns  the  principal,  this  practice  shows  either  a 
condition  of  mind  characterized  as  "wool-gathering,"  or 
a  condition  of  morality  which  is  not  above  that  of  the 
ordinary  citizen,  who  is  aware  of  civic  corruption,  but 
is  too  busy  with  his  own  private  affairs  to  pay  any  at- 
^  tention  to  it.  And  while  the  ordinary  citizen  argues 
illogically  but  effectively  that  he  pays  the  politician  to 
govern  him,  just  as  he  pays  the  minister  to  pray  for 
him,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  expected  to  do  the  work 
of  either  without  stultifying  himself  in  the  eyes  of  the 
practical  business  man,  the  principal  finds  no  such  justi- 
fication, for  he  at  least  is  paid  to  hear  and  see,  and 
correct  and  improve. 

But  it  is  the  child  himself,  whom  this  reprehensible 
practice  concerns  most.     For  evil  tendencies  and  habits 


ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS  29 

are  no  more  eradicated  by  ignoring  their  existence,  or 
by  giving  them  an  external  polish,  than  are  bodily  sores 
cured  by  shutting  the  eyes  to  their  presence  or  by  hid- 
ing them  under  a  silken  bandage.  The  child  who  is  so 
unfortunate  as  to  contract  a  moral  disease  should  be 
dealt  with  in  the  same  manner  as  he  who  suffers  from  a 
physical  ailment,  by  applying  remedial  agencies.  These 
may  assume  various  forms  depending  upon  the  nature 
of  the  physical  illness.  It  may  be  only  just  a  little  pure 
air  and  sunshine  to  recall  the  ruddy  glow  of  health  to 
the  cheek ;  it  may  be  a  sedative  to  quiet  the  fever  in  the 
blood,  or  it  may  be  the  scalpel  to  excise  the  angry  tumor. 
And  so  with  moral  diseases  also.  One  may  require 
merely  a  word  of  reproach;  another  may  call  for  a 
sterner  treatment,  while  a  third  may  demand  still  more 
heroic  measures.  But  each  demands  attention,  otherwise 
each  will  increase,  and  spread  and  become  chronic — a 
source  of  suffering  to  the  patient,  of  menace  to  his 
neighbors,  and  a  constant  indictment  of  the  man  who  is/ 
responsible  for  this  condition. 

There  are  three  ways  in  which  a  principal  may  dis-  Diligence 
cipline  a  school :  One  is  by  looking  wise  and  dignified, 
and  letting  the  classes  and  the  teachers  take  care  of  one 
another  and  each  other  as  best  they  may.  Of  course  this 
is  not  the  ideal  method,  except  for  the  principal  who 
believes  in  an  unruffled  existence  for  himself,  even  at  the 
expense  of  both  pupils  and  teachers.  Another  way  is 
by  making  the  teacher  responsible  for  his  class,  then 
formulating  rules  for  his  guidance,  and  seeing  to  it  that 
he  carries  them  into  execution.  The  great  trouble  with 


30  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

this  method  is  that  while  the  principal  shows  a  laudable 
desire  to  do  his  duty  as  he  conceives  it  his  efforts  are 
misdirected.  He  generally  expends  his  energies  in  super- 
vising and  in  criticizing  the  teachers  instead  of  utilizing 
them  in  training  the  pupils.  He  becomes  a  positive  in- 
jury to  the  school.  For,  whereas  a  teacher,  left  to  his 
own  devices,  will  eventually  work  out  his  own  salvation, 
and  perhaps  be  the  stronger  for  it  as  a  disciplinarian, 
he  will  lose  heart,  and  become  weak,  dissatisfied,  and 
hardened  when  he  is  circumscribed  by  rules  and  regula- 
tions, and  his  shortcomings  are  constantly  held  up  to 
him  as  a  goad  to  greater  efforts  and  a  warning  of  the 
consequences  of  his  superior's  displeasure.  Diligence 
loses  its  characteristic  of  usefulness  when  it  originates 
in  narrow-mindedness.  On  the  other  hand,  when  it  is 
the  most  effective  means  for  the  uplifting  of  the  whole 
school  its  activity  manifests  itself  in  a  spirit  of  help- 
fulness. 

Helpfulness  A  school  is  best  disciplined  when  the  principal  himself, 
a  broad-minded  and  liberal-hearted  man,  takes  complete 
control  of  its  management,  holds  himself  responsible  for 
its  conditions,  and  obtains  the  co-operation  of  each  one 
connected  with  it,  in  maintaining  the  highest  possible 
standard  of  efficiency.  Of  course  this  entails  a  great 
deal  of  labor— of  constant  visitation,  and  supervision, 
and  correction  and  assistance ;  but  it  is  the  only  proper 
way  to  manage  a  school  and  to  train  its  pupils  to  right 
conduct. 


ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS  31 

III.    Capable  Teachers 

While  the  spirit  of  the  principal  animates  the  school 
as  a  whole  and  gives  aim,  inspiration  and  motive  to  the 
teacher,  and  a  standard  of  conduct  to  the  child,  in  the 
last  analysis  it  is  the  teacher  who  more  directly  influ- 
ences the  child.  If,  then,  a  competent  principal  is  essen- 
tial to  a  school,  much  more  so  are  competent  teachers. 

But  where  are  such  teachers  to  be  found?  The  an- 
swer is — In  each  school  where  there  is  a  principal  able 
and  willing  to  train  them.  It  requires  no  greater  quali- 
fications to  become  a  good  trainer  of  teachers  than  those 
essential  to  a  good  trainer  of  children.  All  it  requires 
is  a  broad-mindedness  that  can  encompass  both  children 
and  teachers  in  its  liberality ;  a  heart  that  feels  for  the 
teacher,  at  the  same  time  that  it  goes  out  to  the  children. 
A  school  with  a  number  of  incompetent  teachers  points 
unmistakably  to  an  incompetent  principal  at  its  head. 

There  are  two  characteristics  which  a  teacher  should  Quietness 
especially  possess,  outside  of  those  previously  enumer- 
ated as  qualifications  of  the  successful  principal.  These 
are  quietness  and  loyalty.  A  quiet  voice,  a  quiet  man- 
ner, a  quiet  way  of  doing  things,  is  a  mark  of  refinement 
that  goes  a  long  way  in  making  a  school  what  it  is  in- 
tended to  be— a  refined  home  for  the  children.  And 
this  impels  to  the  remark,  treasonable  in  the  extreme,  that 
schools  are  instituted  not  for  spelling,  nor  for  geography, 
nor  even  for  grammar,  but  primarily  for  the  moral  train- 
ing. Now  one  of  the  best  means  for  bringing  the  proper 
moral  atmosphere  into  the  class-room  is  quietness ;  for 
children  learn  to  imitate  and  they  form  habits.  They 


32  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

also  learn  to  admire  the  quiet  teacher,  for  he  holds  in 
reserve  a  fund  of  energy  which  he  can  draw  upon  when 
the  occasion  arises. 

There  has  never  been  a  law  passed  but  there  has  been 
some  one  who  has  thought  it  superfluous  or  even  worse. 
This  is  natural  when  we  consider  the  great  diversity  of 
characters  and  interests  of  the  people  who  are  affected 
by  the  law.  The  same  holds  true  in  the  management  of 
a  school.  No  one  rule,  emanating  from  the  one  in  author- 
ity, will  please  all ;  yet  while  all  cannot  be  satisfied,  all 
can  be  loyal ;  nay,  all  must  be  loyal.  A  well-regulated 
school  has  an  ideal  toward  which  it  is  striving  daily. 
Loyalty  assists  its  progress,  disloyalty  retards  it.  A  dis- 
loyal spirit  in  a  school  more  than  offsets  the  good  in- 
fluence of  a  capable,  honest,  and  unselfish  principal,  and 
communicates  itself  to  the  children,  who  reap  irreparable 
harm.  A  disloyal  teacher  is  unworthy  of  his  calling. 
IV.  Gradual  Introduction  of  the  Scheme 

(  The  change  from  the  monarchical  to  the  democratic 
form  of  government  must  not  be  too  sudden,  or  even  the 
best-disposed  will  lose  their  balance  and  act  irrationally. 
Give  the  children  no  more  privileges  than  they  can 
assimilate  at  any  one  time,  and  let  them  apperceive  these 
before  granting  them  any  others.)  The  monitorial  sys- 
tem in  class-rooms,  on  the  stairs  and  in  the  yards,  acting 
in  co-operation  with  the  teachers,  is  an  excellent  starting- 
point.  Classes  in  charge  of  children  during  the  tempo- 
rary absence  of  teachers,  are  a  step  forward  in  the  right 
direction.  Debating  societies  presided  over  by  one  of 
their  own  number  are  excellent. 


ESSENTIAL  CONDITIONS  33 

V.    Power  to  Enforce  Obedience 

That  teachers  are  not  always  given  sufficient  power  Means 
to  enforce  obedience  is  not  due  to  disbelief  in  the  truism  and  Ends 
that  for  the  purpose  of  any  specific  end,  adequate  means 
must  be  provided.  On  the  contrary,  all  believe  in  this 
self-evident  truth.  A  child  knows  he  can  raise  a  certain 
weight,  and  will  feel  aggrieved,  and  justly,  if  he  is 
ordered  to  raise  one  that  requires  more  strength  than 
he  possesses  to  lift  it.  The  botanist  knows  that  the  sap 
rises  in  the  tree  because  sufficient  force  is  exerted  for 
that  purpose ;  and  the  intimation  of  a  withdrawal  of  a 
part  of  the  force  without  affecting  ultimate  results,  will 
strike  him  as  humorous.  The  astronomer  knows  that 
the  heavenly  bodies  move  in  their  orbits  in  response  to  a 
force  adequate  to  the  task  assigned  to  them;  and  no 
amount  of  sophistry  will  convince  him  to  the  contrary. 

Why,  then,  is  this  equation  between  means  and  ends  Past 
ignored  in  child  training?  The  answer  is:  Because  of  ConcePtiOB 
the  misconception  of  the  purpose  of  childhood.  For 
centuries,  the  importance  of  the  child  lay  in  his  becom- 
ing, and  not  in  his  being.  In  obedience  to  this  idea, 
education  concerned  itself  with  results  and  gave  little 
heed  to  the  manner  of  their  attainment,  simply  formu- 
lating the  general  direction  to  act  the  aim— to  undergo 
hardship  as  a  training  for  physical  endurance,  to  exer- 
cise in  abstract  reasoning  for  mental  acumen,  and  to  in- 
dulge in  meditation  and  prayer  for  the  attainment  of 
sanctity.  The  child  was  left  out  of  consideration,  be- 
cause humanity  had  not  yet  learned  to  question  the  child 


34  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

concerning  his  own  training.     Childhood  was  overlooked 
in  the  contemplation  of  developed  manhood. 
Present  The   present   conception   began  with   Rousseau.     His 

Conception  pjea  £or  ^  c^i^  an  appeal  against  the  unnatural  con- 
ditions of  his  day,  has  had  the  effect  of  awakening 
humanity  to  the  sublime  truth  that  childhood  had  an 
inherent  right  to  happiness.  No  man  ever  before 
preached  a  nobler  doctrine,  and  nobly  humanity  re- 
sponded to  it — so  nobly,  indeed,  that  its  ideas  upon 
child-training  underwent  a  complete  change.  To-day, 
the  child  is  exalted  as  the  educational  focus;  he  sets 
the  aim,  he  points  to  the  source  of  knowledge,  and  he 
directs  the  educative  process.  To-day  manhood  is  over- 
looked in  the  contemplation  of  childhood. 

The  True  The  true  value  of  the  child  is  found  not  in  his  child- 
Conception  hood,  but  in  his  latent  manhood.  It  is  the  developed 
moral  being  who  concerns  society  primarily — the  child 
being  only  a  means  to  an  end.  And  as  the  claim  of 
society  is  of  more  importance  than  that  of  the  child, 
only  so  much  happiness  can  be  demanded  for  the  child 
as  is  consistent  with  his  proper  training. 

Conclusion  Society,  then,  has  the  right  to  impose  the  aim  of  edu- 
cation, and  in  the  carrying  out  of  this  aim  sufficient 
power  should  be  granted  to  enforce  obedience. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  SCHEME 

As  has  been  stated  in  the  Introduction,  the  writer  Immediate 
had  been  principal  of  Public  School  No.  125,  Manhattan,  Reparation 
for  exactly  three  years  before  he  decided  to  introduce 
selfrgovernment  in  the  four  upper  grades  of  the  school. 
He  announced  this  intention  to  the  pupils  during  the 
morning  assembly  and  appointed  a  day  for  the  election 
of  officers  for  the  self-government  school.  A  day  later 
he  visited  the  class-rooms  of  the  four  upper  grades, 
explained  briefly  the  purpose,  form,  and  extent  of  the 
self-government  scheme,  and  expressed  the  hope  that 
the  pupils  would  prove  themselves  worthy  of  the  great 
trust  reposed  in  them  by  their  teachers  and  the  principal. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  election,  after  the  close 
of  the  regular  school  session,  the  pupils  of  these  upper 
grades  met,  according  to  directions,  in  the  assembly 
room,  where  the  following  preamble  and  charter  were 
read  to  them: 

Charter  of  Self -Government  School  125 

Whereas,  the  pupils  of  Public  School  125,  Manhattan, 
The  City  of  New  York,  have  demonstrated  by  their  con- 
duct in  the  past  that  they  are  prepared  to  assume  the 
responsibilities  of  self-government,  and  that  they  are 
capable  of  appreciating  its  benefits, 

35 


36  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

This  Charter 

is  hereby  granted  to  them  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
Self-Government  School  125,  that  it  may  assist  in  their 
guidance,  training  and  improvement. 

BERNARD  CRONSON,  Principal 

ARTICLE  I 

Name  This  association  shall  be  known  as  Self-Government 

School  125. 

ARTICLE  II 

Purpose  The  purpose  of  this  association  is  to  train  its  members 

in  and  for  self-government  and  citizenship. 

ARTICLE  III 

Extent  Self-Government  School  125  shall  include  the  building 

and  grounds  of  Public  School  125,  and  its  authority 
shall  extend  wherever  the  pupils  of  Public  School  125 
may  be  found. 

ARTICLE  IV 

Divisions         Sec.  1.  Each   class  shall   constitute   a  borough    and 
of  the  City  shall  be  designated  in  the  same  way   as  the  class  it 
represents. 

Sec.  2.  All  pupils  admitted  to  citizenship  under  Ar- 
ticle VI,  Sec.  3,  shall  constitute  a  borough  of  the 'city,  and 
shall  be  known  as  the  Merit  Borough. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Depart-  The  government  of  the  city  shall  consist  of  three  de- 

partments :  Legislative,  Executive,  Judiciary. 


THE  INTBODUCTION  OF  THE  SCHEME  37 

ARTICLE  VI 

Sec  1.  All  students  of  the  school,  from  6  B  to  8  B  in- 
clusive, shall  be  citizens  of  the  city. 

Sec.  2.  Any  other  class,  from  5  A  to  6  A  inclusive, 
may  join  the  association,  provided  its  application  is  en- 
dorsed by  the  teacher  and  is  approved  by  the  Principal. 

Sec.  3.  Clause  I.  Any  pupil  of  the  school,  from  4  A 
to  4  B  inclusive,  who  has  been  rated  A  in  conduct,  and, 
at  least,  B  in  lessons,  and  who  can  pass  a  satisfactory 
examination  in  accordance  with  Section  3,  Clause  III, 
may  be  admitted  to  citizenship. 

Clause  II.  Examinations  for  admission  to  citizenship 
may  be  held  on  the  third  school  Friday  of  each  and 
every  school  month  at  three  o'clock,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Principal,  or  of  some  teacher  designated  by  the 
Principal. 

Clause  III.  The  examination  shall  consist  of  reading, 
writing,  spelling,  interpretation  and  appreciation  of  this 
Charter. 

ARTICLE  VII 

Sec.  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  all  citizens  to  attend  Duties  of 
all  elections  and  general  meetings,  to  aid  in  the  strict  Citizens 
enforcement  of  the  several  articles  of  this  charter,  and 
to  do  everything  possible  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
school. 

Sec.  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  citizens  to  be  courteous 
and  kind  to  all  with  whom  they  come  in  contact. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  citizens  to  avoid 
anything  which  violates  the  law  of  the  State  or  City,  or 
which  interferes  with  the  rights  of  the  citizens  thereof. 


38  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

ARTICLE  VIII 

Legislative      Sec.  JL'The   legislative  body  shall  be  known   as  the 
Department  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Sec.  2.  It  shall  consist  of  two  members  from  each 
borough,  elected  by  the  citizens  thereof. 

Sec.  3.  The  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  shall 
be  elected  to  serve  one-half  of  the  school  term. 

Sec.  4.  The  presiding  officer  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men shall  be  known  as  the  President  of  the  Board,  and 
shall  be  chosen  by  the  majority  vote  of  those  cast  at  a 
general  election. 

Sec.  5.  Clause  I.  Any  member  of  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Principal,  or  of  the 
teacher  designated  by  the  Principal,  be  removed  from 
office  when  found  guilty  of  any  serious  offense  against 
the  government  or  the  school. 

Clause  II.  The  seriousness  of  the  offense  shall  be  de- 
termined by  the  Principal,  or  by  the  teacher  designated 
by  the  Principal. 

Clause  III.  A  special  election  shall  be  held  within 
two  days  to  fill  such  a  vacancy. 

ARTICLE  IX 

Bights  and  Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Aldermen  shall  have  the  power 
Duties  of  to  pass  such  laws  for  the  welfare  of  the  school  and  its 
citizens  as  shall  not  conflict  with  the  higher  authorities. 
Sec.  2.  The  Board  of  Aldermen  shall  meet  on  the 
second  and  fourth  school  Fridays  of  each  and  every 
school  month  at  3.15  o'clock. 

Sec.  3.  Any  Alderman  who  is  absent  from  two  con- 


THE  INTEODUCTION  OF  THE  SCHEME  39 

secutive  meetings  without  good  cause  shall  have  his  or 
her  place  declared  vacant. 

Sec.  4.  No  bill  shall  be  passed  except  by  a  majority 
vote  of  all  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 

Sec.  5.  Every  bill  that  is  passed  by  the  Board  of  Al- 
dermen, must  be  presented  to  the  Mayor  for  his  or  her 
approval. 

Sec.  6.  When  a  bill  passed  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 
receives  the  approval  of  the  Mayor,  it  shall  be  a  law. 

Sec.  7.  If  the  Mayor  disapproves  the  bill  passed  by 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  he  or  she  shall,  within  three 
days,  return  the  said  bill  with  his  or  her  objections. 

Sec.  8.  If  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  however,  express  its 
approval  of  the  measure  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  the 
members  of  the  Board,  the  bill  shall  then  become  a  law. 

Sec.  9.  The  Board  of  Aldermen  shall  convene  as  a 
trial  court  when  any  elected  officer  of  the  city  is  accused 
of  neglect  of  duty  or  of  violation  of  the  charter. 

ARTICLE  X 

Sec.  1.  The  executive  powers  of  the  government  shall  Executive 
be  vested  in  a  Mayor,  elected  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  Depal 
cast  at  a  general  election. 

Sec.  2.  The  term  of  office  of  the  Mayor  shall  be  one- 
half  of  the  school  term. 

ARTICLE  XI 

Sec.  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Mayor  to  see  that  Rights  and 
each  and  every  law  of  the  school  is  strictly  enforced.       Dut!f?  ° 

Sec.  2.  Clause  I.  To  aid  him  in  the  performance  of  his 
duties,  the  Mayor  shall,  with  the  approval  of  the  Board 


40  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

of  Aldermen,  create  the  following  departments,  and  ap- 
point the  chief  officers  thereof. 

Police  Clause  II.  The  Police  Department  shall  suppress  noises 

Department  an(j  Disorder  in  the  yard,  on  the  stairs,  or  anywhere  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  school  building.  The  department 
shall  suppress  truancy,  lateness,  and  tardiness;  and 
shall  aid  generally  in  making  the  school  an  orderly  and 
law-abiding  community. 

Health  Clause  III.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  officers  of  this 

Department  department  to  prevent  the  possible  spread  of  disease 
through  the  accumulation  of  dirt  and  filth.  The  officers 
of  this  department  shall,  at  stated  regular  periods,  in- 
spect the  general  appearance  of  the  citizens  and  of  the 
halls,  rooms  and  closets  of  the  school  building.  Per- 
sistent violation  of  the  laws  of  health  and  cleanliness 
shall  be  reported  to  the  Police  Department.  * 

Removal  Clause  IV.  Any  officer  of  the  above  departments  may 

3  be  removed  from  office  by  the  Mayor,  when  the  said 
officer  has  been  found  guilty  of  neglect  of  duty,  or  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  of  the  school. 

Duties  of         Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Mayor  to  keep  him- 

the  Mayor    ge]f  informe(j  Of  the  doings  of  the  various  departments, 

and  to  communicate  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  at  its 

regular  meetings,  a  general  statement  of  the  government 

and  improvement  of  the  city. 

Sec.  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Mayor  to  recommend 
to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  all  such  measures  as  he  may 
deem  expedient. 

Sec.  :~.  The  Mayor  may  be  removed  from  office  when 
found  guilty  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  sitting  as  a 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  SCHEME  41 

trial  court,  of  neglect  of  duty,  or  of  any  serious  offense, 
against  the  laws  of  the  school.  Such  removal  must, 
however,  receive  the  approval  of  the  Principal,  or  of 
some  teacher  designated  by  the  Principal. 

Sec.  6.  When  the  office  of  Mayor  shall  become  vacant 
through  the  inability  of  the  Mayor  to  perform  his  duties, 
or  on  account  of  absence  or  removal  from  office,  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  shall  act  as  Mayor. 

ARTICLE  XII 

Sec.  1.  The  court  shall  have  jurisdiction  over  all  cases  Powers  and 
of  violation  of  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  school. 

Sec.  2.  The  court  shall  have  the  power  to  siimmon  any 
accused  person  before  it.  The  court  may  also  subpoena 
witnesses. 

Sec.  3.  No  person  shall  be  denied  the  right  of  trial  by 
jury. 

Sec.  4.  The  jury  shall  consist  of  six  citizens,  namely, 
the  three  judges  of  the  court  and  three  other  citizens, 
whose  names  shall  be  drawn  by  the  clerk  of  the  court. 

Sec.  5.  Conviction  or  acquittal  shall  be  by  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  jury. 

Sec.  6.  No  person  shall  be  denied  the  right  of  being 
represented  by  counsel,  or  of  calling  witnesses  in  his  or 
her  behalf. 

Sec.  7 .  No  person  shall  be  tried  twice  for  the  same 
offense. 

Sec.  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  court  to  discharge 
any  accused  person  found  innocent, 

Sec.  9,  The  court  shall  have  the  power  to  inflict,  with 


42 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 


*** 


How 
Received 


the  approval  of  the  Principal,  or  of  some  teacher  desig- 
nated by  the  Principal,  suitable  punishments. 

Sec.  10.  Any  person  who  is  disorderly  in  the  court- 
room during  a  session  of  the  court,  or  who  disobeys  an 
order  of  the  court  without  sufficient  cause,  shall  be  guilty 
of  contempt  of  court,  and  shall  be  liable  to  punishment. 

Sec  11.  The  city  shall  be  represented  in  the  court  by 
the  City  Attorney.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  City 
Attorney  to  prosecute  all  persons  accused  of  violation  of 
the  law. 

ARTICLE  XIII 

Sec.  1.  The  judiciary  power  shall  be  vested  in  three 
judges,  elected  by  a  majority  vote  of  all  the  votes  cast  at 
a  general  election. 

Sec.  2.  Any  judge  may,  with  the  approval  of  the  Prin- 
cipal, or  of  some  teacher  designated  by  the  Principal,  be 
dismissed  from  office,  when  found  guilty  by  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  sitting  as  a  trial  court  of  neglect  of  duty,  or 
of  violation  of  any  law  of  the  school. 

Sec.  3.  Court  shall  hold  sessions  every  Tuesday,  Wed- 
nesday, and  Thursday  afternoons  at  the  close  of  the 
school  sessions. 

The  conclusion  of  the  reading  was  a  signal  for  as 
boisterous  a  demonstration  on  the  part  of  the  children, 
as  was  ever  heard  at  a  packed  primary.  Whether  this 
was  due  to  the  masterly  delivery,  to  the  lucid  explana- 
tion of  the  plan,  during  the  reading  of  the  charter,  or  to 
the  sudden  recognition  of  their  own  importance,  certain 
it  is  that  the  sense  of  propriety  of  the  teachers  who  were 


THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  SCHEME  43 

present  was  shocked  beyond  measure  by  this  unseemly 
conduct.  No  such  scene  had  ever  before  been  enacted 
within  these  staid  walls,  and  certainly  no  such  self -ini- 
tiated and  unrestrained  enthusiasm  or  disorder,  which- 
ever you  like  to  call  it,  had  been  witnessed  in  this  school 
since  the  present  principal  had  taken  charge  of  it. 

Fortunately  all  this  had  been  foreseen,  and  the  teach- 
ers had  been  forewarned  to  remain  mere  spectators  of 
the  whole  proceeding  no  matter  how  strongly  they  were 
tempted  to  assume  control.  It  required  great  powers  of 
resistance  and  of  inhibition,  no  doubt,  to  overcome  the 
habit  of  regulating  the  child's  every  step,  but  in  this 
instance,  the  teachers  felt  it  would  be  senseless  to  give 
children  self-government  one  minute,  and  the  very  next, 
to  give  them  proof  of  the  teacher's  own  lack  of  self- 
control. 

The  children  calmed  down  eventually.  Exhaustion 
and  the  daily  training  they  had  received  triumphed. 
However,  they  were  in  no  condition  or  mood  to  take 
part  in  an  election.  The  meeting  was  therefore  ad- 
journed and  the  children  advised  to  be  prepared  to 
nominate  only  the  best  pupils  of  the  school  for  the 
various  offices,  as  the  Principal  retained  the  right  to 
reject  any  boy  or  girl  whom  he  deemed  unworthy  of  the 
honor. 

Two  days  later,  the  election  took  place,  and  resulted 
in  the  choice  of  a  boy  for  Mayor,  a  boy  for  President  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  three  girls  as  judges,  and  a  boy 
for  City  Attorney.  It  must  not  be  inferred  from  this 
that  the  citizens  of  Self -Government  School  125  deemed 


44  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

the  boys  better  fitted  for  the  executive  and  legislative 
work  of  the  government,  and  the  girLs  better  fitted  for 
the  judicial  work.  The  fact  is  that,  when  the  result  of 
the  election  to  the  second  office  was  made  known,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  a  disposition  to  ignore  the  girls  en- 
tirely in  the  matter  of  political  patronage,  the  Principal 
suggested  that  courtesy  to  the  female  citizens  demanded 
a  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  offices.  This  sug- 
gestion was  acted  upon  to  the  great  satisfaction  of 
everyone  present. 


CHAPTER  V 

DEVELOPMENT    OF  THE  SCHEME 

The  new  administration  assumed  control  immediately. 
The  officers  were  enthusiastic,  but  they  soon  discovered 
that  they  could  accomplish  but  very  little,  unless 
they  called  others  to  their  assistance.  This  they  did  by 
establishing  new  offices  whenever  the  need  for  them  be- 
came apparent,  and  by  appointing  boys  or  girls  to  take 
charge  of  them.  An  assembly  squad  was  first  appointed 
and  later  a  Chief  of  Police;  and  he  in  turn  organized 
several  squads  to  look  after  special  parts  of  the  school 
organization.  A  court  clerk  and  a  crier  were  deemed 
essential  to  the  dignity  of  the  court,  and  these  were  ap- 
pointed and  trained.  Process-servers  were  also  found 
to  be  necessary  adjuncts  to  every  well-regulated  govern- 
ment, and  they  were  pressed  into  service  most  willingly. 

At  present  the  scheme  has  almost  reached  its  complete 
development.  This  may  be  seen  by  an  examination  of 
the  following  outline  of  it. 


45 


46  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERiJMENT 

Self -Government   School  125 

Developed  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT 

Scheme 

Board  of  Aldermen 

consisting  of 

Two  Aldermen  from  each  Borough,  and  the  President  of 
the  Board 

The  Board  meets  on  the  second  and  fourth  Fridays  of 
each  month,  at  3.10  P.  M. 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT 

Mayor 
Police  Department 

consisting  of 

Assembly  Squad  in  charge  of  Assembly 
Patrol  Squad  in  charge  of  stairs  and  yards 
Truant  Squad  in  charge  of  truancy 
Parole  Squad  in  charge  of  paroled  pupils 
Detective   Squad,   for  secret  investigation 

Health  Department 
Department  of  Savings 
Educational  Department 

JUDICIARY  DEPARTMENT 

City  Court 

Three  Justices 

Court  Clerk  City  Attorney 

The  court  is  in  session  every  Tuesday,  Wednesday  and 
Friday  at  3.10  p.  M. 


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DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SCHEME  47 

This  consists  of  eight  members  of  the  school  police—  ^ss< 
four  boys  and  four  girls— who  have  complete  charge  of, 
and  are  responsible  for  the  order,  in  the  assembly  room, 
and  in  the  side  rooms  to  which  children  congregate  pre- 
vious to  assembling  in  the  main  room. 

Public  School  125,  situated  in  the  midst  of  an  Italian  Truancy 
population,  has  always  had  the  problem  of  truancy  to 
contend  with,  and  the  utilizing  of  the  school  police  for 
breaking  up  this  evil  naturally  suggested  itself.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Chief  of  Police  organized  a  truancy  squad 
consisting  of  six  officers  in  charge  of  a  captain.  These 
were  assigned  to  the  duty  of  looking  after  the  attendance 
of  the  ungraded  class,  which  was  made  up  of  chronic 
truants,  disorderly  pupils,  and  children  who  had  been 
paroled  by  the  courts  and  sent  to  school,  doubtless  as  a 
fit  punishment.  This  class  was  first  established  in  Pub- 
lic School  125,  in  1902,  and  has  been  in  existence  ever 
since,  to  the  advantage  of  the  school  and  to  the  benefit 
of  the  children  who  comprise  it. 

If  a  brief  digression  is  permissible  at  this  point,  it  segregation, 
will  be  utilized  for  a  consideration  of  the  following :  ' *  To  Its  Value 
prevent  crime,  we  must  begin  in  the  public  schools,  weed 
out  the  bad  boys,  separate  them  from  the  others,  put 
them  in  special  classes  with  specially  trained  teachers 
to  look  after  them.     Our  schools  are  radically  defective 
in  this  respect.     A  few  bad  boys  of  fascinating,  dominant 
natures,  will  corrupt  many  lads  who  are  amiable  and  of 
good  disposition. '  '* 

A  great  many  people  question  the  wisdom  of  segregat- 
*The  New  York  Herald,  Oct.  5,  1902. 


48  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

ing  this  class  of  children  because  they  are  thereby  de- 
prived of  the  benefit  of  contact  with  the  better  children. 
Now,  while  this  is  to  some  extent  true,  it  is  offset  by  the 
consideration  that  children,  like  their  elders,  are  hero- 
worshippers,  and,  unfortunately,  the  type  they  worship  is 
the  kind  which  shows  a  disposition  to  chafe  under  proper 
restraint.  Deep  down  in  the  heart  of  every  boy,  there 
lurks  a  suspicion  of  admiration  for  his  neighbor  who  has 
the  hardihood  to  pit  his  own  will  against  that  of  his 
teacher.  It  is  only  in  rare  instances,  that  ay  class  spirit . 
is  met  with  in  the  elementary  s*chool  sufficiently  de- 
veloped to  frown  upon  any  attempt  on  ttie  part  of  a 
pupil  to  follow  his  uninhibited  and  unrestrained  human 
instincts  of  direct  self-preservation.  Moreover  there  is 
a  positive  detriment  to  the  rest  of  the  class  that  wit- 
nesses repeated  acts  of  disobedience;  for  each  such  act 
leaves  behind  it  a  baneful  influence  upon  the  minds  and 
characters  of  the  youthful  observers  of  it.  Indeed,  the 
discipline  of  many  a  class  has  been  ruined  because  an 
incorrigible  boy  has  been  allowed  to  remain  in  it — a 
Nemesis  to  himself,  a  torment  to  his  teacher,  and  a  source 
of  contamination  to  his  companions.  Now,  it  may  be 
allowable  to  ignore  the  fact  that '  *  Every  child,  no  matter 
how  preverse  he  is,  has  the  right  to  demand  of  us,  as  the 
chief  element  of  his  future  welfare,  that  we  train  him  to 
a  wholesome  respect  for  law."*  According  to  present 
pedagogy,  the  child  himself  points  the  way  to  the  teacher, 
and  if  he  points  a  finger  of  scorn,  it  is  the  business  of 

*Beport   of  Male   Principals'   Association,   Manhattan  and 
the  Bronx. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SCHEME  49 

the  locus  pueris  to  "grin  and  bear  it."  It  is  also  a 
sign  of  great  wisdom,  and  knowledge,  and  piety,  to  ex- 
hort the  teacher  to  exercise  patience  and  love,  when 
dealing  with  the  unregenerate  child,  and  to  carry  into 
effect  the  injunction  that  the  more  vicious  and  degraded 
the  child  is,  the  greater  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to 
shower  love  and  affection  upon  him.  No  objection  can 
be  raised  against  this  concrete  evidence  of  anxiety  for 
the  welfare  of  the  child,  even  though  developed  human 
nature  is  fortunately  so  constituted  that  it  loves  the 
good,  the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  dislikes  the  bad,  the 
false,  the  ugly.  But  human  nature  ought  to  know  better, 
and  to  remember  besides  that  the  teacher  is  trained  and 
paid  to  become  upon  occasion  an  emotionless,  or  an 
emotion-generating  category.  However,  it  is  not  un- 
reasonable, unwise,  and  impious,  to  claim  that  the  other 
children  of  the  class  also  have  certain  rights,  as,  for 
instance,  equal  consideration  in  the  teacher's  time 
schedule,  and  protection  from  vicious  associations. 

But  this  is  not  self-government,  only  common  sense,  as 
the  opponents  of  this  scheme  would  say.  A  return  then 
must  be  made  to  the  subject  under  consideration. 

During  the  day,  or  at  the  close  of  the  school  session,   The 
a  list  of  absent  truants  is  handed  to  the  captain,  who  Truancy 


distributes  the  names  among  his  officers,  to  be  reported  ° 

upon  the  following  day.  As  the  by-laws  of  the  Board 
of  Education  practically  forbid  sending  children  on 
errands  during  school  hours,  the  work  of  looking  up 
truants  must  be  done  before  nine,  between  twelve  and 
one,  and  after  three.  Of  course,  this  requires  a  great 


50  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

deal  of  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  truant  officers,  but  as 
not  one  of  them  has  ever  made  complaint,  and  there  are 
always  children  ready  to  replace  them  in  the  event  of 
resignation  or  removal,  the  conclusion  is  that  it  is  a  labor 
of  love. 

Parole  The  formation  of  this  squad  is  due  to  the  suggestion 

Squad  of  one  of  thLe  truant  officers  of  the  Board  of  Education.* 
Children  who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  had  been 
paroled  by  the  courts,  are  required  to  present  them- 
selves on  a  certain  day  of  each  week  at  the  office  of  a 
district  superintendent  to  give  evidence  of  attendance 
and  good  conduct.  When  they  fail  to  report,  a  truant 
officer  connected  with  the  office  of  the  district  superin- 
tendent, is  sent  to  look  them  up,  in  order  to  persuade 
them  to  report  the  following  week.  The  officer  is  gen- 
erally successful  in  convincing  the  child  that  it  is  a  high 
crime  and  misdemeanor  to  fail  to  report  to  the  educa- 
tional department,  when  he  is  paroled  by  the  judicial 
department,  upon  a  charge  by  the  police  department. 
However,  if  the  officer  is  unsuccessful,  there  is  no  law 
on  the  statute  books  against  a  second  and  a  third  visita- 
tion, so  long  as  the  moral  suasion  idea  is  kept  promi- 
nently in  view.  Nor  is  there  any  objection  to  new  de- 
vices being  employed  to  have  the  offender  realize  his 
moral  obligation  to  report  when  it  suits  his  convenience 
or  fancy. 

This  particular  truant  officer  suggested  that  the  duty 
of  enforcing  attendance  of  paroled  boys  at  the  office  of 
the  district  superintendent  on   a   specified   day  might 
*Miss  Felicie  Cafferata. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SCHEME  51 

properly  devolve  upon  the  School  police.  Accordingly, 
two  officers  were  detailed  to  meet  these  children  in  the 
school  yard  at  an  appointed  day  and  hour  of  each  week, 
and  to  accompany  them  to  the  office  of  the  district 
superintendent.  If  any  fail  to  appear  a  scouting  party 
is  immediately  dispatched  and  the  search  is  continued 
until  the  delinquents  are  rounded  up. 

There  is  no  better  means  of  teaching  a  child  self-  Department 
restraint  and  self-control  than  by  training  him  to  re- 
nounce  concrete  pleasures  within  his  grasp  in  return  for 
future  good.  With  this  idea  in  mind  the  Penny  Provi- 
dent Bank  was  organized  as  a  department  of  the  School, 
and  the  children  were  invited  to  elect  a  treasurer  and 
to  deposit  their  pennies  in  the  School  City  Savings  Bank. 
They  responded  heartily ;  and  as  proof  of  their  practical 
insight  and  business  sagacity,  they  elected  to  the  office 
of  treasurer  one  of  the  teachers  who  had  the  reputation 
of  being  the  wealthiest  in  the  building. 

This  division  of  the  Self-Government  School  directs  Educational 
its  activity  along  two  different  lines,  but  both  tending 
to  the  same  result.  The  one,  still  in  embryo,  concerns 
itself  with  a  future  attempt  to  have  a  day  to  be  known 
as  Field  Day,  *  set  apart,  when  the  whole  School  City 
including  its  teachers  and  principal,  will  flee  the  city, 
and  forget  books,  and  lessons,  and  formal  dignity,  and 
hie  to  some  near-by  fields  and  woods,  there  "to  commune 
with  nature, ' '  and  be  natural  and  free.  The  other  is  an 
attempt,  already  made,  to  have  public  speakers  address 

*Field  Day  has  since  been  held  and  was  most  successful. 


52  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

the  School  occasionally  upon  an  assigned  topic  chosen 
from  a  list  specially  prepared  for  such  occasions.  This 
list  will  be  found  in  the  concluding  chapter. 

Court  Court  sessions  are  held  on  Tuesdays  and  Thursdays 

Sessions  for  \)0yS .  they  begin  promptly  at  3.10  p.  M.  and  are 
open  to  visitors,  both  adults  and  pupils.  On  Wednes- 
days court  is  held  in  secret  session  to  try  female  de- 
linquents, and  no  visitors  are  admitted. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION 

Children  are  allowed  to  romp  and  play  to  their  heart's  The  Yards 
content  in  the  school  yard  until  8.40.  The  same  holds 
true  during  the  noon  recess  until  12.40.  Then  the 
Mayor,  taking  his  stand  where  he  can  best  command  a 
view  of  the  children,  signals  for  silence.  A  moment  later 
he  signals  again,  this  time  as  an  order  to  the  children  to 
form  into  lines,  and  to  the  class  presidents  to  take  charge 
of  their  respective  classes.  When  all  is  ready— when 
each  pupil  is  in  his  proper  place  and  position— and  there 
is  perfect  silence  in  the  yard,  he  gives  the  order  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  class-rooms.  Each  class  is  preceded  by  its 
president  and  is  met  at  every  landing  by  a  representa- 
tive of  the  school  government  who  is  stationed  there  to 
assist  in  maintaining  order. 

A  Typical  Morning  Assembly 

Once  in  their  class-rooms,  the  children  are  under  the 
control  of  their  class  presidents  until  a  few  minutes  of 
nine.  Then  a  gong  is  sounded  as  a  signal  to  prepare  for 
the  assembly,  and  the  class  president  is  replaced  by  the 
School  official,  who  assumes  complete  charge  until  the 
return  of  the  pupils  from  their  morning  exercises. ) 

At  a  signal  given  on  the  piano  the  children  rise,  form 

53 


54 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 


Preparation 
for  the 
Assembly 


The 

Assembly 


Relation 
Between 
Self -Govern- 


and  the 
Principal 


in  line,  and  repair  to  the  side-rooms.  There  they  are 
arranged  and  counted  by  the  school  officer  in  charge, 
preparatory  to  assembling. 

^The  Mayor,  up  to  this  point,  has  been  a  watchful 
spectator  of  the  work  of  his  officers.  If  any  laxity 
existed,  it  was  his  duty  to  discover  it  and  to  hold  the 
officer  in  charge  responsible  for  it ;  for  the  Mayor  is  the 
only  one  who  is  directly  responsible  to  the  principal  for 
the  order  of  the  school.  He  now  assures  himself  that 
everything  is  in  readiness— that  the  lines  are  formed 
for  marching,  and  the  four  police  officers  are  at  their 
assigned  stations  in  the  assembly  room — and  he  notifies 
the  teacher  at  the  piano  to  begin  the  playing  of  a  march. 
In  a  very  short  time  he  stands  facing  nearly  four  hun- 
dred children  who  have  gathered  in  the  assembly  room 
for  their  daily  morning  exercises. 

Standing  erect,  almost  immovable,  as  befits  the  occa- 
sion, the  children  sing  their  morning  hymn,  then  seat 
themselves  quietly  and  simultaneously.  The  principal, 
or  one  of  his  teachers,  arises,  bids  them  a  cheery  i  '  Good 
Morning, ' '  receives  a  hearty  response  in  return  and  reads 
a  short  selection  from  the  Scriptures. 

It  has  several  times  been  suggested  that  it  would  carry 
out  the  idea  of  self-government  more  completely  if  the 
^^01*  were  ca^e(^  uPon  to  read  the  Bible  every  morning. 

The  argument  is  valid,  but  impractical,  so  far  as  the 
special  aim  in  view  is  concerned;  which  is,  never  to 
divorce  the  school  so  completely  from  the  authorities 
that  are  actually  responsible  for  the  running  of  the 
school,  as  to  give  the  children  the  impression  that  they 
are  absolutely  independent  of  them.)  Children  must  at 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPEEATION  55 

all  times  feel  that  they  are  responsible  to  higher  authori- 
ties, just  as  adults  are  to  the  constitution  which  grants 
them  special  privileges.  For  this  reason,  the  Scriptures 
are  read  by  the  principal  or  teacher,  just  to  remind  the 
children  unobtrusively  of  the  existence  of  this  higher 
authority,  although  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the 
Mayor  reading  the  Bible  occasionally  in  the  presence  of 
the  principal  or  teacher.  Partly  for  the  same  reason, 
also,  a  teacher  is  present  at  the  sessions  of  the  court,  to 
review  the  sentences  of  the  judges  before  they  are  an- 
nounced; and  one  is  also  within  hailing  distance  of  the 
yards,  and  occasionally  passes  through  them;  and  one 
is  also  present  in  the  detention  room,  although  the  chil- 
dren themselves  have  complete  control  there. 
fA  song  or  two  by  the  school,  several  recitations  by 
pupils  of  a  class  specially  assigned,  and  by  volunteers 
who  respond  to  the  invitation  by  the  Mayor,  and  it  is  the 
turn  of  the  Health  Department  to  begin  its  work. 

At  a  signal  from  the  piano,  the  children  lower  their  The  Health 
desks  and  spread  out  their  hands  upon  them.     At  the  Squad  at 
same  time  the  captain  and  his  squad  of  four  assistants,  Work 
two  boys  and  two  girls,  rise  from  their  seats  and  take 
their  assigned  stations,  the  captain  in  front  of  the  school, 
beside  the  Mayor,  and  the  Chief  of  Police  and  his  assist- 
ants at  each  of  the  four  sections  into  which  the  assembly 
room  is  divided.     The  piano  continues  playing  softly, 
while  the  health  officers,   books  and  pencils  in  hand, 
march  up  and  down  the  aisles,  examining  the  hands,  hair, 
shoes,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the  pupils.     Those 
who  have  been  derelict  (and  very  few  of  them  are  nowa- 


56  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

days,  for  eternal  vigilance  leads  to  cleanliness  and  neat- 
ness), are  reported  and  later  summoned  to  appear  in 
court  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  uncleanlinessy) 

If  the  conduct  and  the  general  appearance  of  the 
school  have  been  satisfactory  to  the  Mayor,  he  announces 
the  fact  by  tapping  a  little  bell,  which  is  at  his  elbow. 
Immediately  each  child  relaxes  and  turns  to  his  neighbor 
for  a  social  chat;  for  this  is  the  signal  for  recess— a  part 
of  the  morning  exercise  the  children  appreciate  quite  as 
fully  as  anything  else  on  the  program,  speeches  by  the 
principal  or  visitors  not  excepted.  However,  a  minute 
or  two  later,  he  taps  the  bell  again  and  he  expects  and 
gets  an  instantaneous  return  to  the  quiet  an«d  order  which 
existed  before  the  recess. 

Of  course,  when  the  assembly  is  below  the  standard, 
the  Mayor  withholds  this  privilege;  for  this  recess  is 
looked  upon  by  him  rather  in  the  light  of  a  reward  than 
of  a  necessary  adjunct  to  an  order  of  exercise.  There 
is  one  occasion,  however,  when  he  makes  an  exception  to 
this  general  rule,  and  this  is  when  there  is  a  visitor  pres- 
ent ;  for  the  Mayor  is  rather  proud  of  the  alacrity  with 
which  his  fellow  pupils  respond  to  his  signals  to  relax 
and  to  return  to  order ;  and  he  does  not  want  to  miss  an 
opportunity  for  impressing  upon  the  visitor,  that,  to  use 
his  own  language,  "Public  School  125  is  one  of  the  best 
disciplined  schools  in  the  city,"  and,  it  may  be  added, 
has  one  of  the  best  Mayors  to  be  found  anywhere. 

It  must  be  remarked  here,  that  in  Public  School  125, 
the  morning  assembly  is  looked  upon,  among  other  things, 
as  a  dress  parade.  Accordingly  during  its  continuance, 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPEEATION  57 

which  includes  all  the  preparation  for  it,  implicit  and 
instantaneous  obedience  and  perfect  order  are  insisted  Discipline 
upon  and  obtained.  The  marching,  the  facing,  the  seat-  During  the 
ing,  the  standing,  and  the  sitting,  must  be  done  with  ss< 
military  precision,  and  in  response  only  to  signals  given 
on  the  piano,  for  no  words  of  command  are  allowed. 
Theoretically  this  rigid  discipline  lays  itself  open  to 
criticism;  but  as  this  is  the  only  occasion  during  the 
day  when  this  discipline  is  demanded  (the  principal  in- 
sisting upon  a  natural  and  easy  posture  during  the  rest 
of  the  day,  excepting  upon  special  occasions) ;  as,  more- 
over, the  children  themselves  have  expressed  a  prefer- 
ence for  this  kind  of  discipline  during  the  morning  exer- 
cises, assuring  the  authorities  that  they  feel  no  incon- 
venience after  a  little  training,  the  practice  seems 
entirely  justifiable.  Besides,  this  claim  of  the  children 
to  which  visitors  give  constant  testimony,  is  borne  out 
by  their  contented  looks  during  the  assembly.  "The 
most  striking  thing  about  this  school"  reports  one,  "is 
the  prevailing  attitude  of  geniality  and  contented  in- 
dustry that  seemed  to  fill  the  dingy  old  building  from 
top  to  bottom."*  This  is  only  a  sample  report  of  the 
many  that  have  been  made  by  newspaper  reporters  and 
others  who  have  taken  the  trouble  to  be  present  at  the 
opening  exercises. 

/  All  are  now  ready  to  return  to  their  class-rooms  to  The  Return 
continue  the  work  of  the  day.     At  a  given  signal  on  the  to  the 
piano,  the  children  rise,  face,  mark  time,  and  march  to  ( 

*  Charles  DeF.  Hoxie,  Eeport  on  a  Visit  to  Public  School 
125. 


58 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


their  rooms  without  direction  from  anyone,  guided  only 
by  their  own  common  sense  and  by  their  desire  to  carry 
out  instructions  in  the  simplest  and  most  orderly  man- 
ner possible.  During  the  whole  of  the  morning  exer- 
cises, it  will  be  recalled,  not  one  word  of  command,  direc- 
tion, or  reproof,  was  given./ 

Tne  As  a  general  rule,  the  morning  exercises  last  about 

Assembly;    fifteen  minutes.     There   are   occasions,   however,   when 
Its  Justifi-   this  time  iimit  is  extended  to  twenty  and  even  to  twenty- 
five  minutes,  without  the  feeling  arising  that  there  has 
been,  as  some  would  claim,  the  least  bit  of  time  misspent. 
Not  so  very  long  ago,  a  great  hue  and  cry  was  made 
against  prolonged  exercises.     Perhaps  this  was  right,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  specific  time  for  grammar, 
just  as  there  is  for  morning  assembly,  in  every  well 
regulated  daily  program;  and  some  principals  perhaps 
utilize  both  periods  in  reiterating  again  and  again  the 
necessity  of  improving  every  moment.     However,  it  is 
certainly  unwise  to  reduce  the  whole  proceeding  to  a 
time-saving  formality,  in  order  to  utilize  the  few  minutes 
thus  saved  in  learning  the  parsing  of  a  preposition,  for 
instance,  or  in  encountering  as  fine  an  example  of  false 
syntax  as  ever  plagued  an  unsophisticated  child  to  whom 
freedom  of  speech  is  popularly  supposed  to  be  a  heritage. 
Favorable  /    The  morning  exercises  have  an  educational  value  not 
initiation   vgenerally   conceded   to   them.     If   conducted   properly, 
of  the          they  pave  the  way  for  orderly  conduct  and  systematic 
Day's  Workwork  for  the  rest  of  the  day.     A  good  beginning  is  just 
as  essential  to  the  work  of  the,  school,  as  it  is  to  every 
other   department  of   activity.     The   orderly  entrance, 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION  59 

marching,  and  seating  of  the  pupils,  the  instantaneous 
responses  they  make  to  commands,  the  maintenance  by 
them  of  a  quiet  and  attentive  demeanor,  and  the  prompt- 
ness with  which  the  exercises  are  gone  through — all  tend 
to  put  the  children  in  the  proper  attitude  toward  their 
day's  tasks.  Order  begets  order.^? 

It  is  said  to  the  lasting  credit  of  the  kindergarten,  that  HaS  a 
one  of  its  chief  aims  is  to  extend  the  child's  social  rela-   Socializing 
tions,  and  thereby  to  broaden  and  strengthen  the  social-  Influence 
izing  influences  of  the  home.     This  is  equally  true,  how- 
ever, of  the  other  classes,  and  of  the  school  as  a  whole ; 
and  school   assemblies  are   appreciable   factors   in   the 
development  of  this  community  feeling.     The  success  of 
the  marching,  of  the  sitting,  of  the  rising,  and  of  the 
facing,  is  felt  by  each  and  every  child  to  depend  upon 
the  simultaneous  execution  of  orders  by  each  and  every 
child  who  takes  part  in  the  assembly.     The  Bible  reading 
and  recitations  are  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  are  present ; 
the  singing  is  participated  in  by  all  and  spoiled  by  a 
very  few.     The  whole  atmosphere  is  changed  with  the 
spirit  of  mutual  dependence   and  mutual  helpfulness. 
>X*Both  theory  and  practice  are  agreed  that  class-training  Develops  a 
owes  its  superiority  over  individual  or  tutorial  training  Democratic 
largely  to  the  fact  that  the  former  tends  to  make  the  sPirit 
child  democratic  in  manner  and  in  feelings.     There  is 
no  greater  aristocrat,  not  to  say  autocrat,  than  a  child 
reared  in  a  coddling  environment,  where  the  only  check 
to  the  growth  of  his  self-importance  is  the  occasional 
reprimand  of  an  indulgent  father  or  mother.     With  the 
great  majority  of  people,  it  is  as  natural  to  spoil  a  child 


60  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEBNMENT 

by  an  overdose  of  kindness,  as  it  is  for  the  child  to  be- 
come spoiled  by  an  over-indulgence  in  it.  A  feeling  of 
fellowship  can  be  engendered  only  by  meting  out  equal 
justice  to  all  and  by  inculcating  the  Golden  Rule. 

The  public  school  is  just  the  place  for  this  training. 
Here  the  rich  and  poor,  the  foreigner  and  native  born, 
meet  upon  a  footing  of  equality,  for  education  is  free 
to  all.  Here  social  superiority  is  frowned  upon,  and 
only  intellectual  worth  and  moral  superiority  are  recog- 
nized. The  class-room,  it  is  true,  exerts  a  great  influence 
in  developing  this  spirit  of  equality.  The  child  who 
recites  his  grammar  lesson  in  the  class-room,  does  so  as  a 
member  of  a  social  group  which  has  the  right  not  only 
of  listening  to  him  but  of  criticizing  his  statements— the 
principle  of  "give  and  take"  is  practiced  here  in  the 
true  spirit  of  comradeship.  The  child  who  transgresses 
the  rules  of  the  class,  receives,  and  is  expected  to  receive, 
the  same  punishment,  other  things  being  equal,  that 
would  have  been  meted  out  to  any  other  member  of  the 
class  for  the  same  offense.  And  yet,  even  here,  condi- 
tions are  liable  to  arise,  which  will  increase  rather  than 
diminish  a  child's  estimate  of  his  own  importance,  by 
reason  of  his  inherent  right  to  leadership,  or  through 
the  hero-worshipping  instincts  of  his  classmates,  or  the 
special  good-will  of  his  teacher.  Not  so,  however,  with 
the  morning  assembly,  where  the  child  is  merged  in  the 
group,  where  he  counts  for  neither  more  nor  less  than 
any  other  individual  who  takes  part  in  the  exercises,  and 
where  he  goes  through  the  same  evolutions,  recites  or 
listens  and  is  shown  neither  more  nor  less  favor  than  the 
other  children,  j 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION  61 

9 

Aside  from  the  training  the  child  receives  and  the  con-  Has  an 
sequent  effect  upon  him,  from  the  rhythmic  movements,  Aesthetic 
and  the  exercise  of  his  will,  there  are  two  other  factors  influence 
of  the  morning  assembly  which  have  a  bearing  upon  his 
moral  development— the  songs  and  the  recitations. 

The  class-room  music  consists  of  a  study  of  techni- 
calities and  makes  little  or  no  appeal  to  the  sentiments 
of  the  child.  With  the  assembly  music,  it  is  different, 
particularly  when  the  songs  are  well  rendered ;  for  this 
aids  in  fostering  and  developing  his  aesthetic  sense. 

The  recitations  also  contribute  their  share  to  the  moral 
uplifting  of  the  pupils ;  but  in  order  that  they  may  do 
their  most  effective  work,  the  selections  must  not  only 
be  recited  properly,  but  they  must  be  simple,  appro- 
priate and  interesting.  Shakespeare  was  a  great  poet; 
so  was  Browning;  so  were  many  others.  The  child  has 
no  doubt  of  this,  for  his  teacher  has  told  him  so ;  but  he 
prefers  the  words  of  a  lesser  poet — words  which  come 
nearer  to  his  understanding,  interest,  and  appreciation, 
and  appeal  more  to  his  audience.  A  child  resents  being 
forced  to  recite  in  a  foreign  language,  or  to  listen  to  it ; 
and  nine-tenths  of  the  selections  which  common  consent 
has  approved  as  gems  of  literature,  and  therefore  to  be 
mouthed  by  the  children,  are  beyond  them,  either  to 
understand  or  to  appreciate. 

As  an  extreme  example  of  the  futility  of  this  class  of 
recitations  to  impress  itself  upon  the  child,  the  following 
statement  of  a  man,  who  in  his  childhood  and  in  his  boy- 
hood had  recited  numerous  selections  and  had  listened 
to  a  great  many  more,  will  be  of  interest.  These  are  his 


62  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

« 

words :  ' '  Of  all  the  declamations,  recitations  and  quota- 
tions which  I  had  either  declaimed,  recited,  or  quoted,  or 
heard  declaimed,  recited,  or  quoted,  I  valued  just  this  one, 
'Boys  cannot  do  all  that  a  grown-up  person  can  do,  but 
they  can  keep  from  swearing  just  like  any  grown-up 
person  can.'  The  words  sank  into  my  childish  heart, 
for  I  not  only  understood  them  but  I  appreciated  their 
moral  import— they  dealt  with  an  old  acquaintance  of 
mine,  but  which  I  soon  recognized  as  an  unfit  companion 
for  me." 

Aids  in  The  personality  of  the  principal  is  the  chief  means 

Developing  for  developing  a  school  spirit.  A  principal  who  has  the 
ability  to  inculcate  a  habit  of  cheerful  obedience;  who 
feels  a  just  pride  in  his  school  and  evinces  it  upon 
proper  occasions  and  by  proper  means,  and  who,  by 
gaining  the  respect  and  confidence  of  those  about  him, 
instills  into  them  a  desire  to  emulate  him  in  spirit  and 
act,  will  not  fail  to  awaken  and  to  maintain  a  spirit  of 
loyalty  to  his  school  among  both  teachers  and  pupils. 
And  nowhere  does  the  principal  find  as  favorable  an 
opportunity  to  impress  his  personality  upon  the  whole 
school  or  upon  a  considerable  portion  of  it  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  as  at  the  morning  assembly.  Here  he 
may  upon  occasion  direct  his  remarks  to  the  subject  of 
school  virtues,  not  as  mere  abstractions,  but  as  essential 
elements  to  the  success  of  his  own  school — a  success  which 
can  be  brought  about  only  by  the  combined  efforts  of  all 
the  children.  Or  he  may  make  reference  to  some  con- 
crete activities  in  which  the  whole  school— each  and  every 
child— is  concerned  and  takes  pride,  to  mother's  meet- 


_ 


^ 
o 


i 
3 


w 


&  t 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPEEATION  63 

ings,  to  school  games,  to  the  school  flag,  or,  best  of  all, 
to  the  school's  self-government.  There  is  no  greater 
force  than  this  to  awaken  the  school  spirit  which  slum- 
bers in  the  breast  of  every  right-minded  and  well-dis- 
posed child. 

A  Court  Scene 

The  school  has  already  been  dismissed,  and  the 
assembly  room  cleared;  for  the  dourt  is  to  hold  its  ses- 
sion, and  teachers  and  pupils  know  that  Justice  waits 
for  no  one.  Children  enter  by  twos  and  threes  and  seat 
themselves,  some  with  ominous  looking  documents*  in 
*  SUBPOENA. 
In  the  Name  of  The  People  of  Self -Government  School  ±25. 

To    Greeting : 

We  Command  You,  That  all  business  and  excuses  being  laid 
aside,  you  and  each  of  you  appear  and  attend  before  the  Justices 
of  the  City  Court,  or  some  one  of  them  at  a  City  Court,  to  be 
held  in  the  Assembly  Room  of  Public  School  125,  Manhattan,  on 

the day  of   at   o  'clock  in 

the   noon,  to  testify  and  give  evidence  in  a  certain 

cause  now  pending  in  the  City  Court,  then  and  there,  between 
Self -Government  School  125,  plaintiff,  and 

For  your  failure  to  attend  you  will  be  deemed  guilty  of  contempt 
of  court  and  liable  to  punishment. 

Witness Esquire, 

one   of    the   Justices   of   our   City   Court   the day 

of 

Clerk. 

WARRANT. 

County  ")  To    the    Sheriff    or    any    Police    Officer    of 

Town  of       J  said  City, 

Greeting, 
WHEREAS,  Information  of   • 


64  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

their  hands,  others  with  smiles  on  their  faces,  which  be- 
speak the  fortunate  visitor;  for  the  audience  is  limited 
to  two  children  from  each  of  the  upper  grades.  Several 
teachers,  and  perhaps  a  visitor  or  two,  complete  the 
company  which  faces  the  three  judges,  who  are  at  that 
moment  engaged  in  earnest  consultation  with  one  of  the 
teachers  who  sits  back  of  them  on  the  raised  platform 
and  who  is  to  act  as  their  adviser  during  the  day's 
session. 

Promptly  at  ten  minutes  past  three,  the  presiding 
Judge  announces  to  the  crier  the  court's  readiness  to 
proceed  with  the  business  of  the  day.  Immediately  the 
well-known  formula  of  "Hear  ye!  Hear  ye!"  rings  out 
clear  and  strong,  to  the  consternation  of  the  first  offender 
who  sees  neither  rhyme  nor  reason  in  the  invitation  "to 
draw  near  and  be  heard"  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  he 
prefers  to  be  silent  and  far  away. 

The  clerk  reads  the  first  indictment  and  the  culprit 
rises  and  proceeds  to  the  foot  of  the  platform  where  he 
faces  the  Judges.  If  he  pleads  guilty,  and  it  is  his 

has    been    made    before    the    undersigned,    a 

justice  of that 

on  the day  of   at 


These  are,  therefore,  In  the  name  of  the  People  of  Self- 
Government  School  125  to  command  you  forthwith  to  take  the 
said  and  to  bring 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPEEATION  65 

first  offense,  the  Judges  are  rather  lenient  with  him— 
detention  for  a  short  while  in  the  late-room  is  the  sen- 
tence. If  he  is  an  old  offender,  sterner  penalties  are 

to  answer  to  the  matters  contained  in  said  complaint  and  to  be 
further  dealt  with  according  to  law. 

Dated  at  said  city,  the day  of 


Justice  of  said  City  Court. 


WARRANT 

IN  JUSTICE'S  COURT 

BEFORE P.  J. 

THE  PEOPLE 

AGAINST 


WARRANT 


Reverse  side  of  Warrant 


66  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEBNMENT 

meted  out  to  him.  And  this  not  so  much  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reforming  the  guilty,  nor  to  act  as  a  deterrent  to 
others  who  are  yet  too  timid  to  be  caught  in  the  meshes 
of  the  law,  nor  even  to  impart  a  holy  reverence  for  the 
abstract  oughtness  and  oughtnotness,  but  in  the  words 
of  the  presiding  Judge  to  "  teach  you  that  this  court  is 
not  soft,  and  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself  to 
disgrace  the  school.  Don't  do  it  again." 

"Not  If  the  child  pleads  "not  guilty"  to  the  indictment  the 

Guilty*'  prosecution  calls  upon  the  officer  who  made  the  charge 
to  produce  two  witnesses,  unless  the  offense  was  com- 
mitted in  the  assembly  room,  when  the  word  of  the 
officer  alone  is  taken  in  evidence.  If  the  witnesses  are 
not  forthcoming,  the  charge  is  not  entertained;  if  they 
appear,  then  the  prisoner  is  asked  to  produce  his  own 
witnesses,  to  choose  counsel  to  defend  him,  or  the  court 
appoints  one.*  In  such  cases  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
hear  heated  discussions  and  cross-examinations  partici- 
pated in  by  the  Judges,  the  City  Attorney  and  the  at- 
torney for  the  defense  f— just  as  they  do  in  the  regular 
courts,  but  with  this  difference:  The  School  Court 
gets  at  the  truth  in  each  case  eventually,  although  its 
mode  of  procedure  is  not  always  parliamentary.  An 
instance  is  recalled  which  exemplifies  this  statement.  A 
*A  child  has  the  right  to  call  upon  his  own  teacher  to  de- 
fend him.  The  teacher  may  refuse  to  appear  in  the  child's 
behalf  if  the  latter 's  conduct  warrants  such  refusal. 

t  In  Public  School  110,  Manhattan  (Miss  Adeline  E.  Simpson, 
Principal),  where  self-government  has  been  carried  on  successfully 
for  some  time,  both  a  prosecuting  and  a  defending  attorney  are 
elected — an  excellent  idea,  and  worthy  of  being  adopted  by  others. 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPEEATION  67 

boy  charged  with  a  certain  misdemeanor  vehemently 
protested  his  innocence.  There  was  not  sufficient  evi- 
dence upon  which  to  convict  him  although  the  court  was 
morally  certain  of  his  guilt.  He  was  cross-examined 
again  and  again  but  to  no  avail.  At  last  the  presiding 
Judge  lost  her  patience  and  measuring  his  length  with 
her  indignant  gaze,  remarked  sternly:  "You  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  yourself  to  lie  to  me !  Don't  you  dare  do 
it  again !  Now,  sir !  Are  you  guilty?"  He  pleaded  guilty, 
and  he  didn't  lie  like  a  gentleman  either  in  doing  so. 

The  influence  of  the  court  upon  the  children  is  truly  The 
remarkable.     No  child,   however  hardened,   enjoys   the  Influence 
experience  of  appearing,  in  the  presence  of  about  a  hun-  °f  1 
dred  other  children,  before  this  tribunal  presided  over 
by  three  firm,  sober-minded,  earnest  and  level-headed 
young  girls  who  by  their  bearing  recall  their  ancestress, 
the  Roman  Matron.     Many  a  boy  hardened  by  the  life 
of  the  streets,  by  wicked  companionship  and  by  vicious 
surroundings  has  felt  himself  grow  limp  at  the  prospect 
of  having  to  undergo  this  ordeal ;  and  no  boy  with  the 
least  spark  of  manliness  but  is  the  better  for  the  exist- 
ence of  this  court. 

"Stand  up  straight,  sir!"  It  was  the  voice  of  the 
presiding  Judge  calling  upon  one  of  the  oldest  and  tallest 
boys  in  the  school  to  assume  a  more  human  posture  in  the 
presence  of  his  Judges.  He  had  been  indicted  for  some 
trivial  offense,  had  been  summoned  to  court  to  answer 
to  the  charge,  and  unfortunately  for  him  he  had  not 
learned  the  value  of  silence.  It  was  just  one  week  after 
the  court  had  held  its  first  session,  and  in  common  with 


68  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEBNMENT 

a  great  many  others,  older  and  wiser  than  himself,  he 
looked  upon  that  institution  as  a  sort  of  a  bugaboo  with 
which  to-  frighten  very  young  children,  and  to  amuse 
older  ones  like  himself.  Accordingly,  when  he  was 
served  with  the  summons  by  one  of  the  court  attendants, 
he  showed  his  contempt  by  remarking  that  he  "didn't 
care— it  was  only  a  fake  court  after  all."  This  was  re- 
ported to  the  Judges. 

The  day  of  the  trial  arrived.  The  clerk  of  the  court 
read  the  first  indictment.  It  was  that  of  the  aforemen- 
tioned culprit.  He  rose  to  his  feet,  a  great,  big,  good- 
looking  boy,  who  proceeded  with  careless  step  to  the  front 
of  the  room  and  stood  in  an  attitude  of  "parade  rest" 
before  the  Judges. 

"Stand  up  straight,  sir!"  The  boy  looked  startled 
and  surprised  for  a  moment,  then  straightened  up  in- 
stinctively. "You  are  charged  with  turning  your  head 
during  the  assembly,"  continued  the  Judge,  "Are  you 
guilty?"  "I  am,"  he  answered,  meekly  enough. 

A  consultation  between  the  three  Judges  followed,  the 
sentence  was  written  on  a  slip  of  paper  and  approved  by 
the  teacher  in  charge. 

* '  The  sentence  of  the  court  is  that  you  be  detained  one 
afternoon.  Now  go. ' ' 

He  turned,  while  a  smile,  rather  sickly,  it  is  true,  over- 
spread his  countenance,  as  he  proceeded  to  his  seat.  The 
boys'  natural  bravado  was  striving  to  reassert  itself;  but 
unfortunately  for  both  boy  and  bravado,  the  presiding 
Judge,  who  had  not  taken  her  eyes  off  him,  caught  the 
suspicion  of  a  smile  on  his  face,  just  as  he  was  in  the 
act  of  seating  himself. 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION  69 

"Come  back  here,  sir !"  and  back  he  came.  "Did  you 
smile,  sir?"  and  receiving  an  affirmative  reply,  "You  are 
guilty  of  contempt  of  court;  you  will  take  two  more 
days  in  the  detention  room.  Now  see  if  you  can  go  to 
your  seat  without  smiling."  Needless  to  say,  no  smile 
cheered  the  culprit's  second  return  to  his  seat.  He  had 
been  given  something  to  think  of,  and  this  something 
drove  the  frivolity  from  his  head  and  replaced  it  by  an 
experience  which  was  so  at  variance  with  his  established 
faith  and  ideas,  that  it  needed  all  his  attention  to  explain 
it.  Soberly  he  sat  down  to  ruminate  when  he  heard  his 
name  called  again.  He  looked  around  to  make  sure  that 
he  was  himself,  and  meeting  with  no  evidence  to  the  con- 
trary, he  proceeded  "the  way  of  the  transgressor,"  and 
paused  from  sheer  force  of  habit  before  the  Judges. 

' '  You  are  charged,  sir,  with  saying  that  this  is  a  fake 
court.  Are  you  guilty?" 

Guilty  ?  Yes,  certainly,  and  ready  to  plead  so  to  horse- 
stealing  even,  if  only  he  would  not  be  forced  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  those  two  hundred  pairs  of  eyes  which  were 
watching  his  every  movement  with  intense  interest,  and 
which  seemed  to  exist  only  for  the  purpose  of  analyzing 
his  innermost  thoughts  and  feelings. 

* '  I  will  teach  you  that  this  is  no  fake  court !  You  will 
take,  in  addition,  three  more  days  in  the  detention  room ; 
and  if  you  are  ever  brought  before  this  court  again  on  a 

similar  charge,  it  will,  it  will "  and  indignation 

choked  all  audible  utterance ;  while  the  culprit  slunk  to 
his  seat  a  more  bewildered,  but  a  wiser  boy. 

Three  weeks  later,  this  same  boy  made  application  to 


70  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

the  Chief  of  Police  for  a  position  on  the  force,  and  was 
told  to  get  the  indorsement  of  the  Mayor  and  of  the 
Judges.  He  did  so,  and  he  is  now  an  honored  and  a  use- 
ful member  of  the  police  department. 

One  more  instance,  just  to  show  the  earnestness  and 
the  zeal  of  the  officers  of  the  School.  One  of  the  first 
cases  brought  before  the  court  in  executive  session,  tested, 
in  a  high  degree,  the  moral  strength  of  the  children.  A 
girl,  the  president  of  her  class,  and  a  friend  of  most  of 
the  officers,  including  the  three  Judges,  was  charged 
with  talking  on  line  during  dismissal.  She  denied  the 
charge,  but  by  skilful  cross-examination  she  was  forced 
to  admit  her  guilt.  She  was  reprimanded  by  the  court 
and  warned  not  to  repeat  the  offense;  but  instead  of 
heeding  the  warning,  she  threatened  the  officer  for  re- 
porting her.  This  official,  a  girl  of  course,  went  to  her 
teacher  for  advice.  "I  didn't  like  to  take  her  name," 
she  said  apologetically,  "but  it  was  my  duty  to  do  so, 
and  I  did  it."  She  was  advised  to  consult  the  Judges, 
and  they  had  the  offender  indicted  on  the  charge  of  in- 
timidating an  officer.  Upon  trial,  they  found  her  guilty 
and  recommended  that  she  be  dismissed  from  the  presi- 
dency of  the  class.  The  sentence  was  approved  and 
carried  out.  The  girl  has  not  had  a  charge  made  against 
her  since,  nor  did  she  show  at  any  time  the  least  resent- 
ment against  her  companions,  but  on  the  contrary 
showed  by  her  behavior  that  she  regarded  the  sentence 
as  just  and  wholesome. 

But  there  are  other  sources  of  evidence  of  the  good 
influence  which  the  court  exerts  upon  the  children.  One 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION  71 

is  the  judgment  of  the  teachers  of  Public  School  125,  who 
can  be  vouched  for,  for  various  reasons,  to  speak  the  un- 
varnished truth  concerning  it.  Summarized,  this  opin- 
ion, to  use  the  words  of  one  of  the  teachers,  the  one  most 
indefatigable  in  the  cause  of  self-government,  is  that, 
"The  children  have  come  to  look  upon  the  courts  as 
places  where  wrongs  are  righted.  In  place  of  the  famil- 
iar 'I'll  tell  the  teacher,'  we  hear,  'I'll  bring  you  to 
court  if  you  don 't  stop ' ;  and  nine  times  out  of  ten  this 
has  the  desired  effect."  Another  proof,  and  perhaps 
the  most  valuable,  is  the  gradual  decrease  in  the  number 
of  complaints  and  trials  before  the  court.  Several  times 
court  sessions  have  been  held  with  only  two  cases  on  the 
calendar. 

THe  Truancy  Department 

Judging  from  immediate  and  concrete  results,  this  de- 
partment is  perhaps  the  most  valuable  of  the  scheme. 
For  not  only  has  it  practically  broken  up  truancy,  as 
the  subjoined  report  will  show,  but  it  has  also  had  a 
good  influence  upon  the  rest  of  the  school. 

The  respectful  obedience  which  the  truant  squad  com- 
mands from  the  roaming,  roving  population  of  the 
school,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following: 

The  captain  of  the  squad,  an  earnest  and  fearless  lad  An 
of  thirteen,  finds  little  difficulty  in  persuading  the  tru-  Instance 
ants  whom  he  encounters  to  accompany  him  to  school. 
On  one  occasion,  and  this  is  by  no  means  a  rare  one,  the 
captain,  in  making  his  round  of  the  neighborhood,  met 
six  truants  in  succession ;  and  he  directed  each  of  them 
to  wait  for  him  at  a  certain  corner  until  he  called  for 


72 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 


Report  of  the  Ungraded  Class 

1906 


Feb. 

March 

April 

May 

P 

Register 

Attendance 

1 
P 

Register 

§ 
1 

1 

I 

Register 

Attendance 

"03 
P 

Register 

Attendance 

1 

32 

17 

1 

27 

22 

2 

29 

26 

1 

26 

20 

2 

32 

17 

2 

27 

26 

3 

29 

27 

2 

26 

21 

5 

30* 

17 

5 

24 

24 

4 

27 

26 

3 

26 

22 

6 

30 

16 

6 

26 

22 

5 

27 

26 

4 

27 

24 

7 

33 

21 

7 

26 

21 

6 

28 

26 

7 

26 

24 

8 

35 

26 

8 

26 

24 

16 

31 

29 

8 

26 

24 

9 

35 

26 

9 

25 

23 

17 

30 

27 

9 

24 

24 

13 

35 

23 

12 

28 

25 

18 

30 

28 

10 

23 

22 

14 

35 

18 

13 

28 

26 

19 

30 

28 

11 

23 

20 

15 

34* 

27 

14 

30 

27 

20 

29 

28 

16 

32* 

25 

15 

30 

27 

23 

29 

27 

19 

32 

22 

16 

32 

25 

24 

29 

28 

20 

33 

22 

19 

33 

26 

25 

29 

29 

21 

33 

18 

20 

33 

30 

26 

27 

27 

23 

32 

17 

21 

33 

31 

27 

27 

23 

26 

32 

19 

22 

33 

31 

30 

27 

22 

27 

32 

21 

23 

33 

32 

28 

32 

22 

26 

33 

30 

27 

34 

28 

28 

30 

29 

29 

30 

28 

30 

30 

28 

*A  decrease  in  the  register  marks  the  promotion  of  one 
or  more  boys  to  regular  classes,  or  (rarely),  a  discharge  from 
the  school. 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPERATION  73 

him.     He  later  met  the  six  at  the  appointed  spot,  and 
piloted  them  safely  to  school. 

A  boy  who  had  been  a  notorious  truant  for  years,  was  Another 
lost  sight  of  by  the  truant  officers  for  several  months;  Instance 
and  when  the  squad  was  formed,  his  name  was  among 
the  first  that  was  given  to  the  captain  to  look  up.  This 
officer  professed  to  know  the  boy's  whole  history— knew 
that  he  was  assisting  a  driver  in  delivering  package^  for 
the  munificent  sum  of  ten  cents  a  day  with  privileges  of 
sleeping  occasionally  in  a  certain  laundry  and  of  hiding 
there  when  wanted  by  the  truant  officers.  He  knew 
also  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  reaching  his  home  after 
the  family  had  retired  for  the  night,  and  of  leaving  it 
before  anyone  was  astir. 

A  week  later  the  truant  was  at  the  office  of  the  prin- 
cipal, and  beside  him  stood  the  captain,  who  had  that 
morning  surrounded  his  house  with  three  of  his  squad, 
and  caused  his  ignominious  surrender  without  a  blow 
being  struck  on  either  side. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  the  truant  would  have 
been  lectured,  ordered  to  the  detention  room  for  a  cer- 
tain number  of  days,  and  then  set  free.  Unfortunately 
for  him,  however,  his  commitment  paper  had  been 
signed  several  months  before ;  and  as  the  captain  refused 
to  intercede  for  him,  it  was  determined  to  send  him  to 
the  truant  school. 

The  principal  explained  this  determination  to  the  of- 
fender, then  turning  suddenly  to  him,  asked  him  if  he 
would  go  alone  to  the  truant  school,  and  there  deliver 
himself  up  to  the  authorities.  He  expressed  his  willing- 


74  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

ness  with  alacrity,  but  the  captain  interposed  an  objec- 
tion. "Please  don't  do  that,"  he  said  earnestly  to  the 
principal,  "hell  never  report  himself;  and  then  we'll 
have  all  our  trouble  for  nothing;"  and  seeing  that  his 
words  did  not  have  the  desired  effect,  he  continued :  "  I 
know  him,  you  can't  trust  him— he  plays  hookey,  he 
smokes  and  drinks,  he  swears  and  he  steals— I  tell  you  I 
know  what  I  am  talking  about,  for  he  is  my  cousin!" 
His  logic  was  faultless,  and  the  principal — well,  he  did 
just  what  many  a  better  and  holier  man  has  done  before 
him— he  acted  according  to  his  judgment  and  ignored 
his  reasoning.  He  adhered  to  his  original  resolution, 
and  sent  the  culprit  on  his  way  to  self-imposed  confine- 
ment or  to  short-lived  freedom,  and  the  crestfallen  and 
disgusted  captain  to  his  class-room. 

The  captain  was  right,  and  as  a  reward  for  his  far- 
sightedness he  was  ordered  to  apprehend  the  truant 
again  and  to  produce  him  in  the  office  of  the  principal. 
Days  passed,  the  squad  scoured  the  neighborhood,  but 
found  no  trace  of  him.  So  the  captain  reported  daily 
with  a  grim  satisfaction  which  he  could  not  altogether 
hide.  At  last,  one  morning,  as  the  principal  approached 
the  school,  the  captain  saluted,  then  pointed  to  a  boy 
much  taller  than  himself,  who  was  standing  beside  him. 
It  was  the  truant,  the  captain's  cousin,  the  boy  who  had 
caused  the  child  to  lose  his  faith  in  his  principal  as  a 
level-headed  manager  of  truant  boys.  ' '  Truant  school  ? ' ' 
queried  the  captain,  without  a  suspicion  of  a  smile  on 
his  face.  The  principal  eyed  him  sadly  for  fully  a 
minute,  handed  him  carfare,  then  turned  on  his  heel  and 
entered  the  schoolhouse. 


THE  SCHEME  IN  OPEEATION  75 

A  week  after  the  event  narrated  above,  another  of  the  One  Mor 
chronic  truants,  one  of  the  worst  the  school  housed  or  Instance 
failed  to  house — a  boy  who  had  a  bad  influence  upon  his 
companions  because  of  his  defiant  talk  to  them  when  he 
met  them  in  the  street — was  picked  up  by  the  captain 
and  brought  to  school.  He  was  crying,  but  he  was  also 
listening  attentively  to  the  captain  who  was  gesticulat- 
ing and  talking  very  earnestly  to  him.  At  length  both 
entered  the  office  of  the  principal,  and  the  captain  an- 
nounced that  his  companion  was  ready  to  go  to  the 
truant  school  alone,  and  only  asked  that  he  be  allowed 
to  go  home  and  notify  his  mother.  "I  am  responsible 
for  him,"  announced  the  captain,  which  was  tantamount 
to  a  bond  of  good  faith  signed  and  endorsed,  "he's  all 
right,  sir!" 

The  boy  was  given  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the 
matron  of  the  truant  school ;  and  the  following  day  word 
was  received  that  he  had  called  there  with  his  mother, 
presented  his  credentials,  and  after  kissing  his  mother 
good-bye,  settled  down  to  a  term  of  expiation  and 
training.* 

Murder  will  out,  so  will  anything  which  lies  near  the 
heart  of  a  child.  When  the  truant  had  left,  the  captain 
turned  to  the  principal.  "I  was  angry,"  he  said  "when 
you  let  my  cousin  go,  because  I  was  sure  he  would  fool 
you.  Now  I  understand.  He  was  a  fool.  He  might 
have  known  I'd  get  him ;  and  if  he  had  been  honest  and 
had  done  what  he  had  promised  to  do,  you  would  have 
helped  him  get  out  of  the  truant  school  in  a  few  months. 

*The  boy  has  since  been  released  for  good  conduct  upon 
the  recommendation  of  the  principal  of  his  school. 


76  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

Now  he'll  stay  there  two  years.  Every  boy  and  girl  in 
the  school  knows  that.  I  told  this  to  Giaeoma  (the  boy 
who  had  just  left),  and  he  asked  me  to  let  him  go  up 
alone,  and  I  promised  I  would,  and  I  promised  I  would 
speak  to  you  about  it. ' ' 

The  principal  looked  at  the  captain  approvingly.  He 
had  recognized  the  spirit  of  firmness  and  kindness  which 
had  been  his  own  guide  in  the  management  of  children ; 
and  with  a  word  of  commendation,  he  bade  his  lieuten- 
ant go  to  his  class-room.  At  that  moment,  at  least,  th% 
principal  felt  that  his  life  had  not  been  wasted. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ETHICS 

Aims: 

1.  To  give  knowledge  of  what  is  right. 

2.  To  awaken  the  feelings  and  develop  them. 

3.  To  train  to  right  action. 

Means  of  Development. 

I.  Imitation;  concrete  examples. 

1.  Personality  of  principal  and  teacher. 

(a)  Voice;  speech;  bearing;  drei 

(b)  Poise;  self-control,  courtesy, 

(c)  Justice ;  fine  sense  of  honor ;  firil^ess. 

(d)  Sincerity;  ideals;  attitude  towara  life. 

2.  Personality  of  parents  and  playmates. 

II.  Creation  of  worthy  interests,  high  ideals,   and 
helpful  activities. 

1.  Reverence,  sense  of  gratitude  and  dependence 
upon  a  Higher  Power. 

2.  Admiration  of  true  greatness. 

3.  Self-respect. 

(a)  Recognition  of  work  well  done. 

(b)  Cultivation  of  principle  of  esprit  de  corps. 

4.  Unselfishness,  helpfulness,  social  co-operation. 

(a)  Communal  work. 

(b)  Helping  at  home, 

77 


78  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

(c)  Working  with  public  officers  and  public 

departments  for  the  common  welfare. 
5.  True  obedience  : 

(a)  Self -direction. 

(b)  Personal  honor  and  responsibility. 

(c)  Self-government. 

III.  Precept  and  Application. 

1.  Ethical  stories  from  history  and  literature. 

2.  Agencies  for  social  service. 

(a)  Hospitals  and  dispensaries. 

(b)  Asylums. 

(c)  Homes  for  orphans,  blind,  aged,  and  in- 
firm, etc. 

(d)  Societies    for   prevention   of    cruelty    to 
children  and  animals. 

(e)  Societies   for   relief   of   the   unfortunate 
and  needy. 

(f )  Fresh  Air  Funds. 

IV.  Discussions  of  stories  illustrating  ethical  truths. 
1.  Deeds  of  heroism  and  self-sacrifice. 

(a)  Firemen. 

(b)  Policemen. 

(c)  Soldiers. 

(d)  Doctors,  etc. 

(e)  Individuals  in  positions  of  trust  or  re- 
sponsibility. 

(f)  Dumb  animals. 

Methods. 
I       Gradual  Development. 


ETHICS  79 

1.  From  action  to  principle. 

2.  From  obedience  imposed  from  without  to  self- 
government  initiated  from  within. 

3.  From  formal  submission  to  outward  author- 
ity, to  voluntary  obedience  to  an  innate  sense 
of  honor  and  obligation. 

Recognition  of  inexorable  laws  which  cannot  be 
violated  with  impunity. 

1.  Physical  laws. 

2.  Moral  laws. 

TOPICS 

Home  Life. 

1.  Duties  to  Parents. 

(a)  Obedience  in  all  things. 

(b)  Respect  in  address,  in  attention,  in  out- 
side speech. 

L(c)  Courtesy:  tipping  hats;  interruptions  in 
speech;  offering  seats;  passing  the  time 
of  day ;  opening  doors. 

(d)  Honesty. 

(e)  Self-control;  unkind  speech;  temper. 

(f)  Gratitude  for  every  small  kindness. 

(g)  Affection  in  action  as  well  as  word, 
(h)   Cheerfulness. 

2.  Duties  to  Sisters  and  Brothers. 

|(a)  Kindness  in  speech  and  manner, 
(b)  Helpfulness 

to  the  younger  ones  in  dressing; 

to  the  younger  ones  in  playing; 


80  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

to  the  elder  ones  by  cleanliness ; 
to  the  elder  ones  by  errands. 

(c)  Unselfishness:     in    dress;     in    food,     in 
pleasure;  in  belongings. 

(d)  Cheerfulness. 

3.  Treatment  of  the  Sick  or  Infirm. 

(a)  Helpfulness. 

(b)  Kindness. 

(c)  Courtesy. 

(d)  Respect. 

(e)  Sympathy. 

(f)  Patience. 

4.  Treatment  of  any  Pet,  i.  e.,  Dog,  Cat,  Bird,  etc. 

(a)  As  to  teasing. 

(b)  As  to  gentle  handling. 

(c)  As  to  food. 

(d)  As  to  shelter. 

(e)  Kindness  to  all  dumb  animals. 

5.  Conduct  at  Home. 

(a)  Orderliness;    everything    in    its    proper 
place. 

(b)  Prompt  obedience;  early  to  bed,  early  to 
rise;  not  play  until  last  moment. 

(c)  Cleanliness;  body;  clothes. 

(d)  Purity  of  speech,  action,  thought. 

(e)  Gentleness;  never  boisterous  or  noisy  in 
words  or  actions. 

^(f)  Neatness;  care   of  clothes,  etc.,  brushed 
before  putting  away,  etc. 


ETHICS  81 

6.  Conduct  at  Table. 

-4  (a)  Asking  for  food;  patience  until  served; 

politeness    in    receiving    food;    serving 
others  first. 

^  (b)  Use  of  knife,  fork,  spoon,  and  napkin; 
not  as  playthings;  proper  use  of  each 
article. 

(c)  Position  at  table;  no  lounging;  no  elbows 
on  table ;  erect,  alert ;  careful  not  to  spill 
or  drop  food;  excused  when  leaving  be- 
fore others  are  through;  do  not  speak 
unless  addressed. 

(d)  Mastication ;  always  chew  thoroughly  with 
mouth  shut;  no  noise. 

(e)  Cleanliness;    teeth,\  f ace,    hands, 
hair;  clothes;  sEoes. 

II.     Outdoor  Life. 

1.  Conduct  in  Streets. 

(a)  Eight  of  way  to  passengers ;  keep  to  right 
side  of  street. 

(b)  Eight  of  way  to  vehicles,  cars,  etc. ;  pedes- 
trians   can    stop    easily;    vehicles    with 
difficulty ;  never  run  in  front  of  cars,  etc., 
danger   to    self    and    nervous    strain    to 
driver  or  motorman. 

(c)  Orderliness;  loitering  in  streets;  gangs; 
loitering  wastes   time,    obstructs   traffic; 
gang  spirit  is  brutal,  leads  to  fighting  and 
rule  of  might;  influence  on  individuals 
is  degrading  as  the  undesirable  elements 


PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

of  character  are  most  admired;  stealing 
from  push  carts,  etc. 

(d)  Courtesy  and  kindness  to  playmates  and 
friends;   consideration   for  the  weakness 
of  another  shows  strength. 

(e)  Politeness;   excuse  for  unintentional  in- 
jury or  interruption  while  playing. 

(f)  Gentleness  in  word,  tone,  action;  shout- 
ing   after    others;    screaming;    uttering 
shrill    cries;    loud    whistling;     jostling, 
crowding  or   pushing;  throwing  stones; 
ball-playing;  loud  laughter. 

(g)  Consideration  and  sympathy  for  the  feel- 
ings of  others ;  mimicry  or  ridicule  of  the 
deformities  or  misfortunes  of  others ;  rude 
gazing  or  staring  after  others ;  safety  and 
protection  of  weak  and  helpless. 

(h)  Cleanliness  and  neatness;  refuse,  waste- 
paper,  fruit  skins,  etc.,  in  proper  recep- 
tacles; upsetting  or  disturbing  contents 
of  receptacles  for  refuse,  etc. ;  aids  to  the 
Street  Cleaning  Department;  spitting  on 
sidewalks,  etc. 

2.  Conduct  in  Parks,  Libraries  and  other  Public 
Buildings. 

(a)  Care  of  parks,  flowers,  trees,  etc.,  love  of 
birds,  flowers,  etc. 

(b)  Defacement  of  buildings. 

(c)  All  public  property  should  be  more  sacred 
than  personal  property ;  a  public  trust. 


ETHICS  83 

3.  Conduct  in  Public  Conveyances. 

(a)  As  polite  as  in  the  home  or  school. 

^(b)  Moderate  talking  and  laughing;  no  noises. 

(c)  Seats  to  elders. 

(d)  Cleanliness. 

(e)  Honesty  in  payment  of  fares. 

(f )  Cars  stop  for  getting  on  and  off ;  jumping 
off   is  wrong,   as  conductor   and  motor- 
man  are  held  responsible  for  accidents; 
dangerous. 

(g)  No   crowding  or  pushing. 

4.  Conduct  in  Public  Assemblies  (Golden  Kule). 

(a)  Indoors. 

1.  Quietness  and  attention. 

2.  Respect  to  elders. 

3.  Politeness  to  weaker  sex. 

4.  Conduct  in  panics;  coolness  and  self- 
possession. 

(b)  Outdoors. 

1.  Politeness  to  speaker. 

2.  Courtesy  to  listeners. 

3.  No  audible  comments. 
III.  School  Life. 

1.  Duties  to  Teacher. 

(a)  Obedience  in  all  things. 
L(b)  Eespect;    in   address;    in    attention;   in 
speech. 

(c)  Courtesy;  interruptions   in  speech;   tip- 
ing  hats ;  opening  doors ;  handing  dropped 
articles. 


84  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEENMENT 

(d)  Honesty;    in    speech,    manner,    actions, 
lessons. 

(e)  Industry. 

2.  Duties  to  Comrades   (Golden  Rule). 

(a)  In  class-room;  quietness,  attention,  self- 
control. 

(b)  In  the  playground;  kindness  in  speech, 
in  manner;  honesty  in  play;   unselfish- 
ness, thoughtfulness. 

(c)  Cleanliness;    in    person;    in    dress;    in 
speech ;  in  books ;  in  papers. 

(d)  Politeness  to  girls;  must  be  given  and 
demanded. 

3.  Duties  to  Self. 

(a)  Industry. 

(b)  Punctuality. 

(c)  Honesty. 

(d)  Trustworthiness. 

(e)  Cleanliness  and  purity. 

(f)  Self-respect. 

(g)  Self-control, 
(h)  Accuracy. 

4.  Duties  to  the  School  at  Large. 

(a)  Fire  drills;  reasons;  order  during  drills; 
reasons ;  fire  department ;  its  work,  value, 
bravery  of  men. 

(b)  Passage  from  class  to  class. 

(c)  Cleanliness  of  building;  janitor. 

(d)  Defacement  of  building;   care  of  books 
and    other    property    belonging    to    the 
school. 


ETHICS  85 

(e)  Loyalty. 

(f)  Self-government. 
5.  Value  of  School. 

(a)  Why  the  child  comes  to  school.  / 

(b)  What  the  school  does  for  the  child. 

(c)  Value  of  education. 

IV.    Individual  Welfare. 
1.  Essential  Qualities. 

(a)  Industry,  in  lessons,  in  work. 

(b)  Love  of  the  true,  the  good,  the  beautiful. 

(c)  Thoroughness;  whatever  you  do,  do  well. 

1.  Advantages  of  skill,  expert  knowledge 
or  perfection   in  some  special  trade, 
profession  or  subject. 

2.  Disadvantages  of  entire  specialization. 

3.  Jack  of  all  trades  and  master  of  none ; 
ability  and  value  of  an  individual. 

^d)  Ambition  in  lessons,  in  work,  toward  a 
a  higher  life. 

(e)  Prudence  in  speech,  manner,  and  actions. 

(f)  Truthfulness    in    speech,    manner,    and 
actions. 

(g)  Honesty  in  work,  word  or  action,  in  all 
dealings  with  others. 

(h)  Economy. 

(i)    Punctuality. 

(j)    Good    companions;    good    books;    good 

habits, 
(k)  Temperance  and  moderation. 

1.  In  speech,  manner,  and  actions. 


86  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

2.  In  food,  clothes  and  drink. 

3.  Use  of  alcohol  and  tobacco. 

2.  Individual  Rights  and  Privileges. 

(a)  Rapid  advancement  and  progress;  test- 
ability, not  wealth  or  social  position. 

(b)  Opportunities;  public  education;  schools; 
colleges,  libraries,  museums,  etc.,— use  of 
same. 

(c)  Freedom  of  speech  and  action;  protection 
of  rights  of  others;  liberty  of  individual 
gained  by  common  welfare. 

(d)  Self -sacrifice ;  common  welfare  advanced 
at  expense  of  the  individual  welfare. 

3.  Effect  of  Individual  Welfare  and  Progress. 

(a)  Upon  the  individual. 

(b)  Upon  the  family  circle. 

(c)  Upon  society  and  the  common  welfare. 

4.  Dependence  of  Man. 

(a)  Upon    a     Supreme    Being— reverence- 
gratitude. 

(b)  Upon  other  individuals. 

1.  The  rich  upon  the  poor. 

2.  The  poor  upon  the  rich. 

3.  The   laborer  upon  the   employer  and 
vice  versa. 

4.  The  layman  upon  the  professional,  etc. 

5.  The  child  upon  the  parent  and  vice 
versa. 

(c)  Upon  animals. 

1.  Domestic  animals;  horse,  cow,  sheep, 
ox,  etc. 


ETHICS  87 

2.  Wild  animals;   bear,   tiger,    elephant, 
whale,  etc. 

3.  Kindness    to    animals — Humane    So- 
cieties. 

(d)  Upon  Nature  and  physical  laws. 

1.  Change  of  seasons,  etc. 

2.  Growth  and  functions  of  organs  of  the 
body,  etc. 

3.  Violation  of  law;  certainty  of  punish- 
ment. 

(e)  Upon  government  and  moral  laws. 

1.  Character  of  government. 

2.  Necessity  of  government. 

3.  Powers  and  obligations  of  government. 

4.  Limitations;    individual   rights;    com- 
mon rights. 

5.  Violation  of  law;  certainty  of  punish- 
ment ;  effect  upon  the  character  of  the 
individual ;  effect  upon  the  future  in- 
dividual ;  effect  upon  common  welfare. 

5.  Obedience  to  Law. 

(a)  Why  laws  are  made. 

(b)  Who  makes  the  laws. 

(c)  Who  enforces  the  laws. 

(d)  Why  law-breakers  are  punished. 


CHAPTER  IX 
CIVICS* 

Aim:  Training  in  and  for  citizenship. 

The  teaching  process,  in  order  to  be  successful,  must 
take  into  consideration  the  child  to  be  educated,  the 
material  for  his  education,  and  the  teacher,  who  is  the 
medium  between  the  two,  their  relative  importance 
depending  upon  the  aim  of  the  lesson.  Civics,  which 
seeks  primarily  to  impress  its  principles  upon  the  moral 
sense  of  the  child,  must  necessarily  give  prominence  to 
the  character  of  the  teacher. 

Fundamentals 
1.  The  child. 

(a)  The  underlying  civic  virtue  is  obedience  to  con- 
stituted authority;  hence,  train  the  child  first 
to  a  habit  of  implicit  obedience. 

(b)  Obedience  should  aim  to  a  rational  and  volun- 
tary compliance  to  an  inner  authority ;  hence, 

rationalize  the  child's  knowledge  of  law  and 
order,  broaden  and  deepen  his  sense  of  duty, 
and  give  impulse  to  his  conduct. 

(c)  In  intellectual  education,  interest  is  a  condi- 

*From  Cronson's  "Methods  in  Elementary  School  Studies," 
published  by  The  Macmillan  Co. 

88 


CIVICS  89 

tion  to  knowledge;  in  moral  education,  knowl- 
edge is  a  condition  to  interest. 

(d)  The  child  is  in  possession  of  all  the  elementary 
concepts   which  underlie   this   study  through 
intercourse  with  those  with  whom  he  comes  in 
contact  long  before  he  begins  the  study  of  civics. 

(e)  The  principles  underlying  the  teaching  of  other 
studies  obtain  here  also :  Faith  in  the  concrete, 
reasoning,  conviction,  action,  are  the  steps  in 
the  development  of  a  civic  character. 

2.  Material. 

(a)  The  purposes  of  government. 

The  material  must  be  concrete  and  familiar— the 
home,  as  represented  by  the  head  of  the  family;  the 
school,  by  the  teacher;  the  city,  by  the  policeman  and 
the  fireman. 

(b)  A  knowledge  of  our  form  of  government. 

The  material  should  include  the  leading  facts  and  the 
underlying  principles  of  municipal,  state,  and  federal 
governments. 

(c)  The  duties  of  citizens. 

A  comparison  with  other  forms  of  government  in  order 
to  emphasize  such  peculiar  institutions  as  suffrage, 
primaries  and  convention. 

(d)  Historical  personages  and  events. 

3.  The  Teacher. 

Only  the  teacher  vho  is  zealous  in  the  cause  of  good    \ 
citizenship  can  arouse  and  maintain  the  child's  interest 
in  this  study,  can  make  him  appreciate  the  blessings  of 
our  free  government,  can  induce  him  to  feel  that  he  owes 


90  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

certain  duties  to  his  citizenship  which  call  for  cheerful 
responses  on  his  part. 
4.  Method.  * 

TOPICS 

I.  Citizenship. 

1.  Introductory  questions. 

(a)  Why  do  we  have  rules  in  school? 

(b)  Why  do  we  have  laws? 

(c)  What  are  our  rights? 

(d)  What  are  our  duties? 

(e)  What  is  the  most  important  function  of  the 
government  ? 

2.  Duties  of  the  citizen  to  the  government : 

(a)  Personal  responsibility  in 

1.  Preservation  of  order. 

2.  Protection  against  fire. 

3.  Protection  of  property— public  and  private. 

4.  Protection  of  public  health. 

5.  Provision   of  necessities   and   conveniences, 
i.  e.,  roads,  streets,  water,  light,  sewers,  re- 
lief of  poor  and  afflicted,  education,  parks, 
museums,  libraries,  etc. 

(b)  Advantages  and  privileges. 

1.  How   does    the    individual    citizen    have    a 
voice  in  the  government  ? 

(c)  Eligibility. 

1.  Wlio  are  citizens  of  the  United  States? 

*See  Model  Lesson   on  Primaries.     (Page   116).     "  Methods 
in  Elementary  School  Studies." 


CIVICS  91 

2.  What  is  meant  by  an  alien  ? 

B.  How  may  an  alien  become  a  citizen  of  the 

United  States? 
3.  Duties  of  the  government  to  the  citizen. 

(a)  Preservation  of  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness. 

(b)  Preservation  of  order. 

(c)  Protection  against  fire. 

(d)  Protection  of  property— public  and  private. 

(e)  Protection  of  public  health. 

(f)  Provision  of  necessities  and  conveniences  i.  e.9 
roads,  streets,   water,   light,   sewers,   relief  of 
poor  and  afflicted,  education,  parks,  museums, 
libraries,  etc. 

(g)  Redress  of  wrongs — public  or  private. 
II.  Common  Welfare. 

Through  respect  for  rights  of  others. 

Obedience  to  law. 

Co-operation. 

Civic  institutions. 

1.  Introductory  questions. 

(a)  How  does  the  government  take  care  of  public 
works  ? 

(b)  What  do  we  mean  by  public  works? 

(c)  Why  do  we  have  a  department  of  parks? 

(d)  How   can   we   show  our  appreciation  of   the 
city's  great  expenditure  on  public  parks? 

(e)  How  are  the  parks  protected? 

(f)  In  what  ways  are  the  trees  cared  for? 

(g)  Name  some  of  our  city  parks  and  playgrounds, 
(h)  Where  else  can  one  spend  his  recreation  time? 


92  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

(i)   Locate  two  public  museums. 

\(j)  Locate  the  Zoological  Garden. 

(k)  Locate  the  Aquarium. 

(1)    Locate  three  public  libraries. 

(m)  Locate  your  public  school. 

(n)  How  can  we  aid  in  the  protection  of  common 

property  ? 
III.  Departments  of  City  Government. 

1.  Department  of  Parks  and  Public  Buildings. 

(a)  Parks   and   playgrounds;  use  and  value;  the 
park  custodian. 

(b)  Duty  of  citizens;  duty  of  appreciating  and  pro- 
tecting park  property,  such  as  trees,   shrubs, 
flowers,   birds,   animals,   benches,  railings  and 
apparatus ;  of  keeping  the  grass  and  paths  free 
from  refuse  or  papers. 

Cc)   Care  of.  public  buildings,  schools,  libraries,  etc. ; 
defacement  of  same. 

2.  Street  Cleaning  Department. 

(a)  Duties   of   the    Street    Cleaning    Department. 
Collection  and  disposal  of  refuse;  use  of  rub- 
bish   boxes;    street    cleaning;    street    cleaning 
leagues. 

(b)  Eights   of   the    Street    Cleaning   Department; 
separate  receptacles  for   refuse,   waste  paper, 
etc.,  enforcement  of  laws  for  violation  of  or- 
dinances. 

(c)  Duty  of  citizens— to  keep  garbage  and  paper 
separate  from  ashes;  to  keep  receptacles  cov- 
ered; to  refrain  from  throwing  papers,  fruit- 


CIVICS  93 

skins  and  other  discarded  matter  into  the 
street,  or  on  the  sidewalk;  to  refrain  from 
throwing  anything  from  windows,  from  ob- 
structing sidewalks  or  thoroughfares,  from  de- 
facing walks,  fences,  or  buildings. 

3.  Fire  Department. 

(a)  Promptness,   speed,   and  efficiency  of  service; 
fire  alarms;  engine  houses;  duties  of  firemen; 
instances  of  heroism. 

(b)  Bonfires— ruin    of    streets;    dangers    of    fires; 
duties  of  Fire  Department. 

(e)  Duty  of  Citizens— care  in  the  use  of  matches, 
kerosene,  gas,  benzine  and  other  explosives  or 
combustibles;  care  in  regard  to  fireworks,  bon- 
fires and  rubbish;  duty  of  keeping  fire-escapes 
clear  of  encumbrances;  fire  drills;  means  of 
egress  from  buildings;  behavior  at  panics. 

4.  Police  Department. 

(a)  Duties  of  Police  Department.     Enforcement  of 
law ;  maintenance  of  order ;  control  of  crowds ; 
protection  of  life  and  property;  detection  and 
prevention  of  crime ;  arrest  of  criminals,  traffic 
regulation;  instances  of  heroism. 

(b)  Duty  of  Citizens.     Respect  for  police  author- 
ity ;  appeal  in  case  of  danger ;  rendering  assist- 
ance in  maintaining  order;  conduct  in  streets; 
ball-playing  and  stone-throwing—why  forbid- 
den ;  protection  of  city  property. 

5.  Health  Department. 

(a)  Duties  of  Health  Department.     Medical  school 


94  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

inspector;  school  nurse;  vaccination,  contagi- 
ous diseases;  necessity  for  quarantine;  birth 
records  and  certificates;  inspection  of  milk, 
meat  and  other  foods;  sanitary  supervision  of 
water  supply ;  disinfection  of  houses ;  free  medi- 
cal aid;  labor  certificates;  public  notices  of 
Board  of  Health;  burial  grounds,  remote  from 
crowded  sections ;  enforcement  of  provisions 
of  Sanitary  Code. 

(b)  Duties  of  Citizens  in  regard  to  cleanliness  of 
body,  of  clothing,  of  dwelling,  of  streets;  im- 
mediate report  of  cases  of  contagion;  respect 
for  Health  Board  notices;  anti-spitting  laws; 
child  labor  laws. 

6.  Department  of  Buildings  and  Tenement  House  De- 
partment. 

(a)  Duties  of  Building  Department.     Formulating 
and  enforcing  rules  for  public  safety;  requir- 
ing safe  and  strong  construction  in  the  erection 
of  houses,  stores,  factories,  etc. 

(b)  Duties  of  Tenement  House  Department.     Na- 
ture of  the  statutes  relative  to  the  erection  and 
inspection  of  tenements ;  use  and  abuse  of  roofs, 
yards,  and  fire-escapes;  sanitation,  light,  venti- 
lation, plumbing,  toilet  accommodations ;  mutual 
obligations  of  landlord  and  tenant ;  overcrowd- 
ing of  tenants ;  illegal  use  of  rooms  for  sweat- 
shops, factories,  etc. 

(c)  Duties  of  Citizens.     Duty  in  complying  with 
the  laws  made  for  the  safety,  the  health,  and 


CIVICS  95 

the  comfort  of  the  tenant,  and  in  respecting 
the  rights  of  the  landlord. 

7.  Department  of  Education. 

(a)  Duties  of  the  Department  of  Education.     Pu- 
pil, teacher,  principal,  district  superintendent; 
local  school  board;  board  of  education;  Pro- 
visions of  the  Compulsory  Education  Law  and 
laws  governing  child  labor;  compulsory  school 
age,  penalty  for  neglect  by  parent,  punishment 
of  truant,  hearings  by  district  superintendent, 
compulsory    attendance    of    boys    at    evening 
schools;  attendance  officer;  employment  certi- 
ficates; permits  and  badges  for  newsboys. 

(b)  Duties  of  Citizens.     Duties  of  supporting  the 
administration  of  the  schools,  of  obeying  the 
laws    governing   compulsory   education,   child- 
labor,  newsboys,  and  vaccination;  of  comply- 
ing with  school  regulations;  of  being  careful 
in  the  use  of  books  and  other  school  property. 

'(c)  Value  of  education. 

(d)  Necessity  for  laws  governing  child  labor,  com- 
pulsory education,  etc. 

8.  Judicial  Department: 

(a)  Functions    of    Courts;    enforcement    of    laws; 
punishment  of  law-breakers ;  interpretation  and 
application  of  law. 

(b)  The  court.     The  judge;  the  witness;  the  func- 
tions of  a  lawyer.     The  Children's  Court  and 
its  purpose;  penalties  for  offenses;  parole,  sus- 


9*  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

pended  sentence,  commitment  to  truant  school 
or  to  other  institutions. 

(c)  Duties  of  Citizens.  Duty  of  respecting  courts 
and  their  orders,  and  of  telling  the  truth ;  the 
nature  of  an  oath. 

9.  Department  of  Charities. 

(a)  Duties  of  the  Department  of  Charities.     Hos- 
pitals and  their  purposes ;  care  of  orphans  and 
of  destitute  children,  of  the  aged  and  helpless, 
and  of  the  blind.     Humane  Societies;  various 
charity  organizations ;  societies  for  the  preven- 
tion of  cruelty  to  children  and  animals 

(b)  Duties  of  Citizens.     Duty  of  relieving  the  un- 
fortunate; of  recognizing  a  personal  responsi- 
bility to  the  poor  and  helpless ;  of  preventing 
cruelty  to  children  and  animals;  of  being  in- 
dependent and  self-supporting. 

10.  Department  of  Correction. 

(a)  Duties  of  the  Department  of  Correction;  care 
and    maintenance    of    prisons,    penitentiaries, 
reformatories,  and  other  custodial  institutions 
not  under  the  charge   of  the  Department  of 
Charities. 

(b)  Duty  of  Citizens.     Duty  of  being  interested  in 
the  reformation  of  the  erring  one ;  willingness 
to  start  him  aright  once  more  and  assist  him  to 
lead  an  honest  industrious  life ;  ready  to  give 
or  secure  employment  for  him,  and  to  remove 
temptation  out  of  his  path ;  readiness  to  lift  up 


CIVICS  97 

the  fallen— not  to   drag  them  down  to  lower 

depths  of  disgrace  or  crime. 
IV.  Elections. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  ~be  self-evident,  that  all  men 
are  created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  that,  to  secure 
these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men, 
deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned; that  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes 
destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government, 
laying  its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing 
its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely 
to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness. 

DECLARATION  OP  INDEPENDENCE. 

1.  Importance  of  primaries. 

2.  Voting  as  a  duty. 

3.  Honest  voting. 

4.  Thoughtful  voting. 

5.  Parties  and  their  platforms. 

(a)  Local  and  state  parties. 

(b)  Local  and  state  platforms;  purpose;  how  car- 
ried out. 

The  Weapon  of  the  Citizen : 

A  weapon  that  comes  down  as  still 
As  snow  flakes  fall  upon  the  sod; 
But  executes  a  freeman's  will, 

As  lightning  does  the  will  of  God; 
And  from  its  force,  nor  doors  nor  locks 
Can  shield  you; — 't  is  the  ballot-box. 

JOHN  PIERPONT. 


98  PUPIL  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

Duties  of  Citizens— The  duty  of  making  the  best  use  of 
opportunities  for  self-development  and  social  service; 
of  keeping  informed  on  matters  of  public  interest ;  and 
of  registering  and  of  voting  at  primaries  and  on  election 
days;  payment  of  taxes. 

2.  Model  Lesson  on  Primaries  (Eights  and  Duties).* 

There  is  no  privilege  without  a  corresponding  respon- 
sibility. The  ~ballot  suggests  not  merely  that  a  man  may 
exercise  his  franchise,  but  that  he  must  do  so.  This  bit 
of  paper  is  a  token  of  a  freeman's  sovereignty,  and  he 
has  no  more  right  to  ignore  or  decline  its  responsibilities 
than  Queen  Victoria  would  have  to  cast  down  her  scepter 
in  a  pettish  humor  and  refuse  to  govern  her  realm. 

REV.  DAVID  J.  BURRELL,  D.D. 

1.  Facts: 

(a)  Definition. 

(b)  Date. 

(c)  Location. 

(d)  Participants. 

(e)  Purpose. 

2.  Relations: 

(a)  To  the  character  of  the  candidates. 

(b)  To  the  character  of  the  government. 

(c)  To  the  moral  tone  of  the  community. 

(d)  To  the  American  idea  of  government. 

(e)  To  self-respect,  and  to  respect  of  others. 

*From  Cronson's  tl Methods  in  Elementary  School  Studies," 
published  by  The  Macmillan  Co. 


CIVICS  99 

3.  Feelings: 

(a)  Free  government  is  a  heritage  handed  down  to 
us  by  centuries  of  oppression,  suffering,  and 
bloodshed ;  hence  this  right  involves  a  duty,  for 
"Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty." 

(b)  Neglect  to  perform  the  duties  of  citizenship 
results  in   political   rings   formed   for  selfish 
purposes  and  dominated  by  the  one-man  power 
—a  travesty  on  our  boasted  self-government. 

(c)  Such  conditions  ought  not  to  be  tolerated  by 
enlightened    men,    either    as    individuals,    as 
members  of  society,  or  as  Americans. 

4.  Action: 

The  teacher  can  only  sow  the  seed ;  he  must  leave  the 
rest  to  the  future. 
V.  Government. 

Local;  state-,  national. 

The  City  Government.     City  Charter;  how  granted? 

1.  City  Officials. 

(a)  Mayor:   duties  to   party;   to  commonwealth; 
chief  powers. 

(b)  Comptroller:   duties  to   party;   to   common- 
wealth; chief  powers. 

(c)  District  Attorney :  duties  to  party ;  to  common- 
wealth ;  chief  powers. 

(d)  The  Borough  Presidents;  chief  powers  and 
duties. 

(e)  The  Board  of  Aldermen;  chief  powers  and 
duties. 


100  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

(f)  The  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment. 

(g)  The  Board  of  Education, 
(h)  The  Police  Commissioner, 
(i)    The  Fire  Commissioner, 
(j)   The  Park  Commissioner. 

(k)   The  Street  Cleaning  Commissioner. 
(1)    The  Health  Commissioner, 
(m)  The  Charities  and  Corrections. 

2.  The  State  Government. 

L(a)  State  Officials.  Departments.  Chief  powers 
and  duties  of  the  Governor,  the  Lieutenant 
Governor,  the  legislature,  and  the  militia; 
suffrage. 

,(b)  Purpose  of  the  courts,  judge,  jury;  service 
on  jury  or  as  witness;  rights  of  the  accused; 
penal  and  charitable  institutions.  Naturaliz- 
ation of  foreigners. 

(c)  The  State  Senate. 

[(d)  The  Assembly. 

(e)  The  Courts;  Supreme  Court  of  State.     Court 
of  Appeals. 

(f)  The  Attorney  General;  powers  and  duties. 

3.  Departments  of  the  National  Government. 

United  States  Officials— Departments.  The  three 
branches:  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial;  how  con- 
stituted; chief  duties  imposed  upon  each.  Attention 
should  be  directed  to  the  general  purpose  of  the  execu- 
tive branch  as  observed  in  or  near  this  city :  the  letter- 
carrier  and  the  post-office ;  harbors,  light-houses,  and  life- 


CIVICS  101 

saving  stations ;  the  army  and  navy ;  the  customs  depart- 
ment ;  the  immigration  bureau ;  the  census. 

Duties  of  Citizens— Duty  of  keeping  well  informed  in 
regard  to  the  workings  of  the  national  government ;  of 
responding  to  calls  for  the  defense  of  the  country;  of 
voting  intelligently. 

Character  of  these  men. 

Patriotism. 

Gratitude  to  Government. 
VI.  Rise  of  Representative  Government. 

1.  Evolution  of  self-government;  early  Saxon  village; 
the  town  meeting;  the  town  officers;  the  "Witan  and 
the  elective  kingship. 

2.  Feudal  System:  its  institutions;  social  relationship; 
use  of  power ;  aspects  for  good  and  bad ;  traits  of 
character  produced. 

(a)  Social   relationship   of  baron   to  king;   serf   to 
baron;  villeinage. 

(b)  Business  relations  of  same. 

(c)  Chivalry. 

3.  Magna  Charta. 

(a)  Eights  of  people. 

(b)  Representative  government  developed  in  the  Sax- 
on Witan,  the  Norman  Great  Council,  De  Mont- 
fort's  Parliament  of  1265  and  the  Model  Parlia- 
ment of  1295. 

(c)  Judicial  system:  beginning  in  the  Germanic  Trial 
by  Ordeal  and  by  Compurgation. 

(d)  Effects  upon  social  life. 


102  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEBNMENT 

(e)  Keligious  ideas  of  the  time. 

(f)  Toleration. 

4.  Eise  of  Parliament. 

(a)  Doctrine  of  Divine  Eights:  meaning;  how  over- 
thrown; why. 

(b)  Cabinet  government. 

(c)  Extension  of  suffrage. 

5.  Organization    of    Labor— reasons    for    and    against; 

unions;  objects;  misuses. 

6.  Organization  of  Capital— trusts ;  trade  combinations ; 

profit-sharing;  co-operative  stores,  etc. 

7.  Kinds  of  Governments. 

(a)  Eepublics:  federal;  centralized. 

(b)  Monarchies:  constitutional;  absolute. 
Comparisons : 

(a)  Eepublics. 
A.  United  States.  B.  Switzerland. 

1.  Congress.  1.  Federal  Assembly. 
Senate.  State  Council. 
House  of  Eepresenta-               National  Council 
tives.  2.  President. 

2.  President.  3.  Federal  Council 

3.  Cabinet. 

C.  France. 

1.  The  Chambers. 
Senate. 

Chamber  of  Deputies. 

2.  President. 

3.  Ministry. 


CIVICS  103 

(b)  Monarchies. 

A.  England.  B.  Germany. 

1.  King— hereditary.  1.   E  m  p  e  r  o  r— heredi- 

2.  Cabinet.  tary. 

3.  Parliament.  2.  Ministry. 
House  of  Lords.  3.  Parliament. 

House   of   Commons  Bundesrath  or  Gen- 

eral Council. 
Reichstag  or  Diet  of 
the  Realm. 
C.  Russia 

1.  Czar— hereditary   and   absolute. 

Whole     legislative,     judicial, 

and  executive  power  united  in 

Czar  whose  will  is  law.     Aided 

by  four  great  Councils. 

8.  Growth  of  Freedom  of  Speech  and  Religion. 

(a)  Compare  England  past  and  present. 

(b)  Compare  England  and  Russia. 

(c)  Compare  England  and  France. 

(d)  Compare  England  and  Germany. 

(e)  Compare  England  and  America. 

9.  Wisdom  of  Representative  Government. 

VII.  Colonial  Government  to  the  Present  Day. 

1.  Forms  of  Colonial  Government. 

(a)  Three  types  of  colonial  government:  charter, 
proprietary  and  royal.  Governors  elected  by  the 
people  or  appointed  by  the  King  or  Proprietors ; 
the  assemblies. 


104  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEBNMENT 

(b)  Aspects;  advantages  for  the  settlers;  for  the 
governors  and  companies;  dishonesty;  fraud; 
misuse  of  power. 

2.  Eevolution. 

(a)  Character   of    colonists;    work   for   the   general 
good;  self-denial;  patriotism;  endurance;  gener- 
osity. 

(b)  Local  government;  town  and  county. 

(c)  The  Articles  of  Confederation;  chief  provisions; 
defects. 

3.  The  United  States. 

(a)  Patriots. 

(b)  Constitution. 

Respect  for  the  authority  of  the  government,  compli- 
ance wiih  its  laws,  acquiescence  in  its  measures,  are  duties 
enjoined  by  the  fundamental  maxims  of  true  liberty. 
The  basis  of  our  political  systems  is  the  right  of  the  peo- 
ple to  make  and  alter  their  constitutions  of  government. 
But  the  constitution  which  at  any  time  exists,  till  changed 
by  an  explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is 
sacredly  obligatory  upon  all.— GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

The  Constitution:  How  Formed  and  How  Ratified 
THE  PREAMBLE 

We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form 
a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote 
the  general  welfare  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish 
this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America. 


CIVICS  105 

(c)  Amendments  to  the  Constitution. 
Amendments   I-X   together   constitute   a  bill   of 
rights. 

Amendments  XI,  XII,  XIII,  XIV,  XV. 

(d)  Legislative  departments:  Congress,  its  House  of 
Representatives  and  Senate;  their  duties.     How 
a  bill  becomes  a  law. 

(e)  Executive:    the    President    and    Vice-President; 
election;  duties. 

(f)  Judicial:  Supreme  Court,  Circuit  Courts,  District 
Courts. 

(g)  Interdependence  of  the  three  departments  of  the 
national  government: 

1.  President's  power  in  legislation. 

2.  Senate's  power  over  President's  appointments. 

3.  Power  of  impeachment. 

4.  Power  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  determine  the 
constitutionality  of  a  law  of  Congress. 

(h)   Subordination  of  the  military  to  the  civil  power. 

(i)    Slavery. 

Disputes  between  nations;  how  settled;  arbitration; 
international  law;  treaties. 

Disputes  between  states  or  offices  of  government :  how 
settled;  political  law. 

Disputes  between  individuals ;  how  settled ;  municipal 
law ;  common  or  statute. 
Comparisons  of  forms  of  government. 

(a)  Social  questions. 

(b)  Economic  questions. 

(c)  Political  questions. 


106  PUPIL  SELF-GOVEKNMENT 

(d)  Industrial  questions. 

(e)  Educational  questions. 

[(f )  Freedom  of  Speech  and  Religion, 
[(g)  Comparison  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  King, 
Cabinet  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  with 
those  of  the  President,  Cabinet,  and  Congress  of 
the  United  States. 

The  King. — Hereditary  life  ruler;  succession; 
powers  limited  by  the  responsibilities  of  Cabinet 
ministers. 

The  President. — Term ;  eligibility ;  election ; 
succession  in  case  of  death  or  removal;  powers 
and  duties  as  executive  and  in  regard  to  treaties, 
appointments,  and  legislation;  power  to  convene 
Congress;  how  removed. 

Cabinet  of  England.— How  selected;  how 
changed ;  relations  to  the  King  and  to  Parliament. 

Cabinet  of  the  United  States.— How  selected; 
how  changed;  relations  to  the  ^resident  and  to 
Congress. 

Parliament.— House  of  Lords:  hereditary  mem- 
bership ;  legislative  functions ;  final  court  of 
appeal. 

House  of  Commons :  elective  membership ;  term 
of  office ;  legislative  functions ;  power  to  originate 
financial  legislation. 

Congress. — Senate :  basis  of  representation ; 
election ;  term ;  legislative  and  judicial  functions. 

House  of  Representatives:  basis  of  representa- 


CIVICS  107 

tion;  election;   term;   legislative  powers;  power 

over  financial  legislation. 

Russia  and  America. 

England  and  America. 

Germany  and  America, 
[(i)   The   National   Government:   three   departments; 

the  chief  offices, 
(j)   The   State  Government:  the  three  departments; 

the  chief  offices, 
(k)   The   City   Government:   the  three   departments; 

the  chief  offices. 
(1)    Increasing  emphasis  upon  the  privileges,  duties 

and  responsibilities  of  a  citizen,  as  a  member  of 

a  family,  as  pupil,  as  employer  or  employed,  as 

voter,  or  as  office-holder. 


ITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRAR 
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REC'D  LD 

NOV  1     1953 
4MAR'60ER 

RETCTD  CD 


10Jan'61BM 


JAN  18  1961 


REC'D 


LD  21-100m-12,'46(A2012s      )4120 

NOV  1 


APR    5  1961 


,-fcEC'EPl.D 


:w  -10  AM 


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